Oyetola Signs 2020 Budget into Law, Promises Full Implementation

Oyetola Signs 2020 Budget into Law, Promises Full Implementation

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State yesterday signed the Year 2020 budget into law, just as he vowed for its full implementation.

The governor signed the budget in his office shortly after it was formally presented to him by the Speaker, Osun House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye, who noted that this was the first time in the history of Osun that the budget for the next year would be completed and signed into law before the beginning of that year.

Oyetola, who described the size of the budget as most realistic, said the government would stop at nothing to ensure its full implementation.

He said the government decided to prune down the size of the budget compared to the 2019 budget, having realised the socio-economic realities and limited resources available to the state. The governor, who promised to continue to do things that would make life more meaningful, worthwhile and abundant for the people of the state, assured the residents of better days in the Year 2020 and beyond.

He added that the state would do everything possible to bring about the desired development across all the sectors as captured by the budget.

While commending the leadership and members of Osun State House of Assembly for a job well done, Oyetola promised to maintain the level of understanding and cooperation existing between the three arms of government in general and the legislature in particular.

“I am particularly delighted we were able to conclude the presentation, passage and signing of the Year 2020 budget before the end of the Year 2019.

“I must commend the leadership of the House of Assembly – the Speaker and other principal officers – for ensuring smooth passage of the budget and for ensuring they look at the budget critically which is ready for signing today.

“That is to show that we are ready to move the state forward come Year 2020. We do believe in budget size that will enable us carry out proper implementation. That is the essence of what we are doing today.

“The 2019 budget which is coming to an end in two days from now, was about N154 billion, but we realised that we didn’t have too much of the revenue that we budgeted. So, we decided to trim down next year’s budget size to a size that we believe is realistic. And with this, we will be able to do a lot for our people within the limit of our resources.

“The budget size for the Year 2020 is N119.50 billion and we believe that with that budget, a lot of things that we plan to do for 2020; we will be able to achieve them.

“We commend the members of the House of Assembly for their cooperation and support. I must also commend you for your spirit of oneness. There is no doubt that we have enjoyed a very robust cooperation from you and we promise to continue to do that. We thank you for seeing us as partners in progress.

“The way we went about the budget actually confirmed that the leadership of the Assembly is with us, particularly for the timely passage of the budget, unlike some states where there will be issues relating to the budget size. We had gone through it together even before it was prepared, presented and signed.

“I thank the people of the state for believing in our government. The commendations we have received so far have been quite encouraging and I look forward for the same cooperation in the subsequent years, particularly in Year 2020,” Oyetola said.

Earlier in his presentation, the speaker, who described the signing of Year 2020 Osun State Appropriation Bill as unique, noted that this was the first time in the history of the state that the budget for the next year would be completed before the beginning of another year.

He described it as a show of commitment of Oyetola to fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability.

Other who witnessed the signing of the budget are: Osun State Deputy Governor, Mr. Benedict Alabi; Secretary to the State Government, Prince Wole Oyebamiji; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr. Charles Akinola; Deputy Chief of Staff (General Administration), Mikhail Adejare Adebisi; Head of Service, Dr. Olowogboyega Oyebade; members of the House of Assembly, members of the State Executive Council, permanent secretaries and other top political and government functionaries.

Related Articles