Oyo Assembly did not pad 2021 budget – Official

Oyo State Government has declared that there is no evidence of padding in the 2021 budget, which was revised and passed by the House of Assembly last week as alleged in some quarters.

The state government noted that the downward review of the N273.7 Billion Budget earlier approved by the House of Assembly to N268.8 Billion only became imperative due to the need to achieve the fiscal sustainability of the Budget.

It said contrary to the insinuation in a section of the media that the Budget was rejected by the Executive because the House of Assembly padded it to the tune of N7.1 Billion, the revision to N268.8 billion was aimed at enhancing overall budget performance.

A statement by Mr. Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, quoted the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Barrister Adeniyi Farinto, as saying that the Executive Arm of government only called the attention of the House of Assembly to consider a downward review of the N273.7 Billion Budget, which it passed into law earlier, based on a set of critical ratios required for the 2021 Budget to be sustainable.

The statement explained that though the House of Assembly justified the need for the upward review of the Budget proposal to accommodate more developmental projects for the state, the need to ensure adequate budget performance in the face of the COVID-19-induced recession led to the advice to the House to revise in order to enhance budget performance.

According to the Government, if the earlier approved Budget of N273.7 Billion was not revised, the state will likely experience lower savings and income and higher interest payments on loans that will likely lead to large tax hikes and spending cuts as well as a decrease in the state’s ability to respond to economic challenges.

It added that the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning had promptly gone ahead to advise the Appropriation Committee of the House of Assembly to revisit the budget in order to have a realistic budget, which implementation can achieve an impressive budget performance in the year 2021.

It further stated that the loan components allocated in the N273.7 billion earlier approved have since been reduced and the Budget was passed in the sum of N268.8 Billion on December 18, 2020, representing an increase of N2.2 Billion on the Budget proposal submitted by the governor on November 24, 2020.

The statement added that the increment was made to further reflect development at the grassroots level in Oyo State.

The Government expressed satisfaction with the good working relationship between the House of Assembly and the Executive, stating that there is a cordial and amiable relationship among all Arms of Government in the state in demonstration of the commitment to good governance, growth and development of the state.

The statement added: “In addition, the pervading economic uncertainty due to the second wave of the pandemic has justified the need to tread more cautiously towards revenue and expenditure projections for the year 2021.

“The Executive arm is currently making substantial effort to avoid a loan-driven budget that will further increase the level of fiscal deficit of Oyo State in the year 2021 through the adoption of strategies that will increase the revenue base of the State’s economy.”