Fashola Votes N64b For Staff Salary

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Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has voted N64 billion for staff salary and allowances in this year’s budget.

The government will also pay N4.8 billion to the Pension Fund Administrations, PFAs, as its part of the contributory pension for all civil servants.

Giving a breakdown of the budget at the weekend, Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Ben Akabueze, added that the government would spend N300 million as allowances to corps members and internship students that would serve in government ministries, agencies and parastatals this year.

On the N107.5 billion budgeted for General Public Service Sector, Akabueze said the fund would be used for the implementation of Information Communication Technology, ICT, in schools, establishment of Advance Software Engineering Institute, enhanced staff emolument and welfare, comprehensive staff training, Lagos State residents registration and establishment of critical new agencies of government.

The N155.21 billion budgeted for the Economy sector will take care of the Agriculture Youth Empowerment Scheme (Agric-Yes), advancement of work of Lagos-Badagry Expressway and Blue Rail line, Rice/Vegetable Project, Marine Agricultural Development Programme, development of Lekki Free Trade Zone, industrial park development, completion of on-going road and drainage projects and construction of news roads, bridges and drainages.

Others are construction of jetties and terminal buildings, traffic improvement scheme/public road safety programmes, maintenance/upgrade of inner-city roads and Independent Power Project (IPP).

Akabueze said the N72.173 billion voted for education in the budget would be used for the construction/rehabilitation and furnishing of classrooms, training of teachers, especially in ICT, expansion of the Lagos Eko Project, provision/maintenance of laboratories/science equipment and other facilities in schools and facility management in schools.

Explaining the objective of government in increasing the school fees of the Lagos State University, LASU, the commissioner, reiterated that the increase was not meant to source revenue, saying the total amount accruable from the fees annually would amount to only N650 million while the state government would spend N6.3 billion from the 2012 budget for the transformation of the university.

Akabueze said although the amount was still far from the N9 billion yearly needed to run the institution, it was a marked improvement on previous budgetary allocation, adding that LASU was in need of immediate interventions in view of its collapsing infrastructure, and a significant percentage of the allocation would go into that.

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He disclosed that government’s decision to increase the allocation to the institution was to offer more scholarships and bursaries to needy students, adding; “Government is widening access to scholarships to help indigent incoming students cushion the effects of the recent fee increase at the institution.”

Akabueze said the increment was not done by the government to abdicate its responsibility of funding the institution.

“In this budget, the government has a provision of N688 million for scholarships and N250 million bursaries for indigent students of LASU. We have done this to support this category of students in the new fee regime at the institution and to motivate and get the best out of them,” he stated.

Debunking insinuation that government was trying to abdicate its responsibility of funding LASU, Akabueze declared: “The expected proceeds of N650 million is far from the N6 billion subventions to the university. What the government is only asking is for the parents to sacrifice a little more and assist the government to reposition the university.”

Akabueze added that the various interventions by the government in the institution in the past had seen the re-accreditation of 24 of its 27 courses de-accredited by the National University Commission, NUC, recently, pointing out that government was committed to making LASU an enviable centre of learning, as it had already commenced the reform process of the institution.

Moreso, the N44.227 billion voted for environment protection sector will be used to complete system four channelisation, improve and rehabilitate waste water/sewage treatment system, statewide de-flood and clear drainage and continue landscaping and beautification projects.

In the health sector, the N40.532 billion budgeted will be utilised for the completion of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Annex at Gbagada, completion of Maternal and Child Centres, completion of Harvey Road Health Centre, rehabilitation of General Hospitals, equipment of Primary Healthcare Centres, PHCs, relocation/expansion of Drug Manufacturing Unit, DMU, upgrading of 57 PHCs in the state to run 24 hours services and facility management in health institutions.

The commissioner stated that the N13.825 billion earmarked for the Public Order Safety would be used in facility management for newly constructed magistrate courts in Ogba and Ikeja, completion/rehabilitation of magistrate court buildings in the state, automation of court procedures, support for establishment of new police area commands, procurement of fire-fighting equipment and emergency response management.

The N43.812 billion earmarked for the Housing and Community Amenities Sector would be used in completion of housing schemes at Odoragushin, Gbagada II, Ikeja, Ojokoro II, and Igbogbo III; social housing programme/state sponsored mortgage scheme, provision of infrastructure (road, external electrification and water) in housing estates and provision of transformers.

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