By Moses Adeniyi
The monetary value of the Pre-Payment Certificates by Contract of MDAs processed by the Lagos State Government through its Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget hit the sum of N123.251 billion and $51,007.74 for 851 projects between June 2019 and April 2021; report has shown.
It was gathered that the Ministry processed Pre-Payment Certificates by Direct Labour of MDAs between June 2019 and April 2021 in the sum of N5.867 billion for 67 Direct Labour Projects.
The breakdown of the contract projects for the period between June 2019 – March 2021 showed that for General Public Service there were a number of 69 projects at N1.94bn; Economic Affairs 360, at N103.62bn; Environmental Protection 70, at N1.83bn and $51,007.74.
For Education 152, N3.06bn; Housing & Community Amenities 133, N11.66bn; Health 44, N678.71million; Social Protection 1, N97.6m; Public Order and Safety 22, N338.16m.
The breakdown of the direct labour projects within the same period under review, showed that for General Public Service there were 3 projects, at N139.96m; Economic Affairs 9, N4.19bn; Environmental Protection 35, N1.48bn;Education 3, N9.43m; Health 17, N42.3m.
The breakdown of the Pre-Payment Certificates for both Contract and Direct Labour Projects classified by T.H.E.M.E.S. Pillar for the period of June 2019 – March, 2021 Traffic Management and Transportation 130; Health and Environment 105; Education and Technology 276; Making Lagos A 21st Century Economy 398; Entertainment and Tourism 6; Security and Governance 3, with a total of 918 projects.
According to the State’s Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube, during the ongoing Ministerial Briefing at the State Capital Ikeja, to commemorate the second year of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led Administration in office, the projects were implemented qualitatively according to the Bill of Quantities (BOQ)/Bill of Engineering Measurement & Evaluation (BEME).
Egube who spoke on Thursday, mentioned that the Ministry of Economy planning and Budget has played an advisory and coordination role in the initiation and implementation of policies and programmes, aimed at improving the socio economic standard of the people of Lagos state both in the rural and urban areas as a whole.
He mentioned that the Ministry adopted new strategies in improving the revenue generation of the State and also prepared Macroeconomic trend analysis for Q1, Q2 & Q3 Y2020 to aid policy decision making in the State, with focus on GDP, inflation rate and unemployment rate; as well as digital Cabinet initiative to monitor, simulate and drive change in the digital economy.
Making recourse to the 2020 IGR report released by the National Bureau of Statistic (NBS) on Friday, April 16, 2021 stating that Lagos generated a total of N418.98 billion representing 32.08 percent of N1.3 trillion total IGR generated by states and the federal capital territory (FCT), he said: “This is a clear proof that shows that the Themes Agenda is indeed an operational tool that is correctly aligned to our long time development plan, it remains strong and all the elements remains relevant.”
“The Ministry holds no excuse around any failure we see in the city. It’s for us to see it, research it, point it out and ensure that while working together with Mr. Governor, we are able to deploy the policies and systems to make things move ahead and we have continued to improve on our mandate by ensuring that pragmatic and systematic approach to the socio-economic policies of the State is marked by prudent resource management,” Egube added.
Some of the areas where the Ministry recorded achievements within the period under review include: the States Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability for Result Programme – SFTAS; Championing the Eligibility of the State for the 2021 Annual Performance Assessment (APA) based on Y2020 performance; and the attraction of the sum of $14.5m (N5.510 @N380/$) as additional Financing Support.
Others centered on effort in partnership with the Bank of Industry – LASG-BOI (MSME) FUND to provide Financial Assistance to Lagos State indigenous Entrepreneurs; Matching fund of N10.bn to be contributed in equal proportion by LASG and BOI (50:50); The State Employment and Expenditure for Results Program – (SEEFOR), a Community Based Development Program (CBDP) to assist qualifying States implement identifiable CBDPs; Special Agro-Processing Zones – SAPZ to ensure food security and employment generation amongst the citizens of the country.
Others include: Establishment of Grants Coordinating Committee (GCC) and Grants Project Management Office (GPMO); saving One Million Lives (SOML) – Improved Immunization coverage from 72% -92.2%; Distribution of Non-Prescriptive Family Planning Commodities in six Local Government Area.
Also were the Procurement and distribution of 7,494 LLIN (Long Lasting Insecticide Nets) for pregnant Women and fully immunized Children in five Local Government Area-January 2020; Training of 178 newly recruited Nurses on Maternal Health Essential Newborn care, Provision of Seed Stock of essential Medicines & Consumable to 222 Primary Health Care across the Twenty (20) Local Government Area – February & December 2020, among others.
Initiatives in which the Ministry’s advisory role were noted to be remarkable include the 377 Ward Projects across the State; Rail Projects; the Lagos smart city project with the laying of 6,000-kilometre unified fibre optic duct across the metropolis, among others.
It will be recalled that Governor Sanwo-olu, had signed the 2021 Appropriation Bill into Law on the 31st December 2020.
It was a Budget with total size of ₦1.164trillion; total revenue of ₦971.028billion; Deficit Financing of ₦192.494bn and Recurrent Expenditure stood at 460.587bn, while Capital Expenditure was at 702.935bn which gave a Capital to Recurrent Ratio of 60:40
According to the State Government, the Y2021 Budget is consistent with the T.H.E.M.E.S agenda, the present Administration’s policy thrust, and was designed to give priority to the completion of inherited ongoing projects.