2020 Budget Speech Delivered By His Excellency, Seyi Makinde, Executive Governor Of Oyo State, At The Oyo State House Of Assembly On Wednesday, November 27, 2019

I am here today to present to you the Oyo State Budget Proposal for the 2020 Fiscal Year.

It is a budget that captures the aspirations of the good people of Oyo State.

The farmers in Ido, Ilora, Ijaiye, and Akufo who wake up every morning hoping this is the day their relief will come. When the roads that link their farms to markets will be built and they can make more money for their toil.

The market women and men in Gbagi Titun Market as well as the rural markets in Iresadu and Eruwa, whose hope is that the economy can be buoyant enough so that people can buy from them.

The drivers and conductors on Iwo Road, Ogbomoso, Ipapo and Lalupon who do not want to spend all their takings on bus repairs.

The civil servants at Agodi Secretariat who put in an honest day’s work and just want to get their salaries paid on time so they can care for their families.

The students in public primary, secondary and tertiary institutions who want quality education so they can compete favourably with their counterparts worldwide.

The old, the sick and infirm who want to go to a government hospital and get quality service without paying out of pocket.

The small and medium scale business owners who want an enabling environment for their business to thrive.

The big corporations who set up industries in Oyo State believing that government will play their role in providing a conducive environment for sustainable growth.

It is a budget that every woman, man, and child in Oyo state can relate to and be proud of.

A budget in keeping with our Roadmap for Accelerated Development in Oyo State 2019-2023.

Our budget.

Mr Speaker Sir, Honourable Members, this is the first time I will be coming before you to present and defend a budget that is wholly this administration’s.

The Oyo State Appropriation Review and Finance Bill 2019 was transmitted to this assembly after we had revised the figures of the Oyo State Appropriation Act 2019, so that it can better cater to the needs and the wellbeing of the people of Oyo State.

With the total budget of N285.2Billion and pro rata revenue estimates of N71Billion in quarter one (Q1) 2019, only the sum of N28Billion representing 10.01% of total budget and 38.68% of the pro rata estimate was achieved. Similarly, the expenditure performance at the end of quarter one (Q1) 2019 was N27Billion compared to the prorated sum of N71Billion. This presented a budget performance of 38%.  Hence, our administration reduced the total budget size from N285.15Billion to N182.39Billion to make it more in tune with present income and expenditure, representing a reduction of 36% on the average. In specific terms, the budgetary provisions for the office of the Governor and the State House of Assembly were reduced by 40%.

But, as any good manager will tell you, it is better to create your own plan than to repair a defective one. Little wonder that, the last administration’s budget achieved under 40% implementation.

Please permit me to share with you some of the key areas of the 2020 Oyo State Budget Proposal highlighting our revenue and expenditure plans and how this will contribute to the accelerated development of the economy of Oyo State.

Let me start by saying that we are aiming for at least 70% budget implementation. We believe we can even exceed this because we are not building castles in the air. Our proposed budget income matches our proposed expenditure.

So, in keeping with the yearnings of the people of Oyo State which they communicated to us during the budget town hall meetings we held across the three senatorial districts, our focus areas remain:

Works.

Infrastructure has the highest percentage allocation in the 2020 Fiscal Year’s Budget at 23.93% of the total sum allocated.

Mr Speaker Sir, it is our plan to be bullish with infrastructural development, especially road construction. Recently, we awarded the contract for the Moniya-Ijaiye-Iseyin road with a completion agreement of twelve months. The contractor has since moved to the site and commenced work.

We are also collaborating with the Federal Government to rehabilitate the Oyo – Iseyin road, while engagements are in progress with the Federal Government to hasten the completion of the Oyo – Ogbomoso Dual Carriage Way.

With properly constructed and repaired roads, our farmers and others engaged in business in rural areas can move themselves and their produce to markets where they can get better prices. Therefore, the completion of these roads is a priority. To this end, the sum of N35.4Billion has been provided in the 2020 budget for ongoing and proposed roads projects in all the senatorial zones.

Meanwhile, the Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency has been mandatorily restructured and directed to establish zonal offices at Oyo, Ogbomoso, Saki and Ibarapa, to achieve an effective spread of its activities.

Let me reiterate that this administration will complete all ongoing viable projects to which the state’s funds had been committed.

Another infrastructural project we have embarked on is “Light Up Ibadan.” We installed Smart LED Street Lights in Ibadan and this has contributed to the security of these areas. We will be replicating this project across the major towns and cities in Oyo State. Government will also procure new fire fighting vehicles, ambulances, water tankers and communication equipment.

Education

Honourable Members of the Hallowed Chambers, education remains a big issue in Oyo State. We have started tackling head on the number of out-of-school children in Oyo State by providing free education in public secondary schools. We followed up by providing the students with free exercise books and textbooks. We have also made these textbooks available for download online on the Oyo State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology website. Recently, we awarded the contract to produce a compilation of past examination questions in ten subjects for Senior Secondary School 3 students, to help them prepare for WAEC exams.

However, we are having challenges with teacher recruitment, training, and workforce development. We also need to construct and renovate more classrooms in schools across Oyo State and provide them with needed security. In addition, we need increased funding for our state-owned higher institutions to better position themselves for human capital development. In the 2020 budget, we have provided for capital projects in this sector along with regular payment of subvention. For these reasons, Education comes a close second to Works with a total allocation of 22.37% of the budget.

Healthcare

The other area which has been prioritized in the 2020 budget is Healthcare at 5.18% of the total budget proposal.

On assumption of office, we discovered that our hospitals were mere consulting clinics due to lack of basic functional medical equipment. In September, we installed and commissioned the Radio-diagnostic Unit, a surgical operation theatre and an automated medical laboratory at the Adeoyo State Hospital, Ring Road. This ensures quality healthcare delivery to the people of Oyo State.

In the next fiscal year, similar facilities will be rebuilt or renovated in other State Hospitals. Similarly, the General Hospitals in Eruwa, Tede and Iseyin will be renovated in the 2020 fiscal year.

With this development, there is greater pressure on health facilities and thus a need for more personnel. I have, therefore, given approval for the recruitment of five hundred (500) Medical and Health Workers in our hospitals, at the State College of Nursing and Midwifery as well as the College of Health Science and Technology.

Agriculture

Mr Speaker Sir, Honourable Members, we remain determined to utilize agriculture to drive our economy and have allocated 4.43% of the total budget proposal to this sector.

We are implementing policies that will transform farming activities, increase production, and improve the quality of food crops, livestock exports and industrial crops through application of modern technology.

We are presently working at upgrading two of the nine farm settlements in Oyo State at Eruwa and Akufo into Farm Estates. These estates will also serve as crop processing zones with the required technology and mechanisation practices.

Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP) headquarters is hereby moved back to Saki Town. It will be restructured and fully strengthened for efficient and effective performance of its responsibilities.

Let me, also use this opportunity to remind you of the 10,000 metric tons capacity silo at Aawe – Oyo Town, which has been embroiled in legal controversy.  I am happy to inform you that the case has been settled out of court and the contractor has since gone back to site. We have an agreement that the project shall be ready for commissioning in the next ten months.

Other areas of the budget that require consideration include:

Personnel Cost

Starting from June 2019, we have consistently paid staff salaries on the 25th day of every month. We have also consistently increased the allocation to payment of gratuities to steadily offset the huge backlog. Staff Housing Loan has increased from Two Million Naira to Three Million Naira, while the Staff Car Loan Scheme has been increased from Five Hundred Thousand Naira to Seven Hundred Thousand Naira.

You may be surprised that despite all these increases, the fact that we plan to promote ten thousand civil/public servants who have been eligible for the past two years, and accelerate the Conversion/Transfer and Advancement proposals of about Four Hundred (400) interested civil/public servants, we were still able to keep the personnel cost down by over 10% compared to the 2019 budget. One of the key reasons for this is that we are carrying out a staff audit and creating a database of all staff in the Oyo State civil and public service. This ensures that we do not pay ghost workers or persons who possess fake certificates, and that we maintain uniform guidelines for appointment, promotion, and the discipline of civil/public servants in Oyo State.

Capital Expenditure

You will also note that our capital expenditure increased by about 20% compared to the 2019 budget. Total capital expenditure of N100,142,690,046B, is 47.9% of the total budget estimate. The importance of this increase should not be lost on us. Increased allocation to capital projects directly contributes to a more buoyant economy and sustainable development. As stated earlier, we will not only be starting new projects but also completing all ongoing projects from the previous administration.

In all, Mr Speaker Sir, Honourable Members, I am happy to report that we have kept our promise to the people of Oyo State. When we set out to prepare the budget, our aim was to keep the budget realistic. To prepare a budget where projected revenue matches projected cost, unlike what has been the practice in the past.

In 2019 for instance, the last administration projected N25.55Billion as revenue from MDAs and N91.59Billion from Statutory Allocations. These projections were higher than could be achieved. We have had to mark these down by 4.79% for MDAs and 6.08% from Statutory Allocations. However, we have reviewed Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) upwards based on various strategies we have put in place. We are expecting monthly revenue of at least Three Billion Naira starting from January 2020. You will be happy to hear that in the month of October, we were able to increase the state IGR by Four Hundred Million Naira, such that we had an IGR of Two Billion, Seven Hundred Thousand Naira recorded for that month.

The last two sources of revenue are Capital Receipts which are down by about 10% to N33.50Billion compared to the 2019 budget, and Loans for Capital Projects at N28.99Billion.

It is therefore with a deep sense of responsibility that I present to you The Oyo State Budget Proposal for the 2020 Fiscal Year. I can assure that every kobo of the Two Hundred and Eight Billion, Eight Hundred and Two Million, Nine Hundred and Seventy Two Thousand, Eight Hundred and Seventy Eight Naira Zero Kobo is accounted for. Every single expenditure is geared towards facilitating the accelerated development of our beloved Oyo State.

Mr Speaker Sir, Honourable Members of the House, I said at the outset that this budget is of the people and for the people. I stand by my word. With this budget, every citizen of Oyo State has a workable plan that they can identify with. It has been my honour to present it to you and my prayer is that you give it due consideration in a timely manner so that implementation may commence and Oyo State will indeed get on the path to accelerated development.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

God bless Oyo State.