Ogun’s N1.05trn Budget To Pave Way For Development, Prosperity – Finance Commissioner

Ogun State Government has said that the 2025 budget of N1.05trn, is aimed at executing projects that would set the State in the path of development and prosperity.

The Chief Economic Adviser and Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo stated this during the highlights and breakdown of the 2025 budget tagged “Budget of Hope And Prosperity”, held at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

He said the increase in the 2025 budget was to continue on the implementation of qualitative and affordable education, healthcare delivery, housing, provision of critical road infrastructure, youth empowerment and other essential services for the good of the people.

He said the budget State’s budgets have increased from N335bn in 2020 to N1.1trn in 2024 as a result of the reforms put in place and the blockage of leakages and loopholes.

He said: “We have significantly increased our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through lots of reforms in lands, payments, industry, trade and investment where you can do business online. We have also done a lot of internal reforms to drive efficiency as well as digitized the entire internal revenue service.”

Okubadejo stated that the Ogun State is expected to generate N194bn from Ministries, Departments and Agencies, N121bn from internal revenue service and N228m from federal allocation from N199bn in 2024.

Also speaking, Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr. Olaolu Olabimtan said the N1.05trn budget is broken down into N600bn for Capital and N400bn for Recurrent Expenditures, which is a 50 percent increase over the 2024 budget which stood at N703bn.

“For us, what is significant which is why we keep coming first whenever we are ranked in the IGR and its sustainability is that the percentage of our funding from the federation account keeps going down and that is a deliberate attempt on the part of this government to ensure sustainability.

“We will spend more on capital expenditure than we spend on recurrent. Personnel cost is expected to be N125bn which is 12 percent, Overhead Cost of N216bn or 20 percent of the budget and Consolidated Charge of four percent giving us a total Recurrent Expenditure of N455 bn which is 43 percent,” Olabimtan said.

Speaking on the education sector, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, said N178bn or 17 percent of the budget was allocated to the education sector and this would be used for the building 12 mega smart schools, each containing 900 classrooms.

Other projects to be carried out by the Ministry included fencing of schools to provide security for learners and their teachers, providing basic amenities like boreholes, renovation of dilapidated classrooms, among others.

In the agricultural sector, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Hon. Bolu Owotomo, said the state is ready to revive all the farm settlements, increase productivity through effective agricultural value chain, bring more youth and women into agriculture, as well as promote dry season farming through the distribution of 1000 water pumps to farmers.

Commissioner for Housing, Jagunmolu Akande Omoniyi, said emphasis would be placed on the construction of legacy housing projects across the State as N7.5bn is budgeted for housing projects, another N4.5bn for the ministry and N4.9bn for the Housing Corporation.

He said houses built at the Kobape Housing Estate have been allocated to those who fully paid the required amount, while 32 of those who did not get allocation would get their refund.

On her part, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, said a total of 80 Primary Health Care Centres have been renovated this year, while plans are underway to procure MRI machines to meet the needs of patients in the State’s health institutions.

Commissioner for Transportation, Engr. Gbenga Dairo, hinted that government plans to extend the Lagos Red, Blue, and Purple rail lines into the State, emphasizing that the development of new rail stations would not only facilitate easier movement for commuters but also enhance the transportation of goods in and out of the State.

The commissioner also revealed that the ministry is focusing on water transport with a view to improving connectivity across the State and encourage cargo transportation.

Engr. Dairo also affirmed that the Gateway International Airport, which is designed for both cargo and passenger services, has received full certification for operational takeoff, noting that this development positions Ogun State as a strategic hub for air transportation in the region.