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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has described the 2024 budget proposal of Governor Seyi Makinde as defective and unrealistic.
Recall that Makinde had last Tuesday presented a budget proposal of N434.2 billion to the House of Assembly.
But a statement made available to newsmen in Ibadan on Monday by the APC Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, urged the lawmakers to avoid rushing to pass the bill into law without a thorough job as has been the case since 2020.
“Pundits and economic management experts have had to express worries over the future of the Pacesetter State because the administration of Makinde has done little or nothing to improve the economy and create wealth as being done in some other states across the country.
“To make it worse, an expert recently said that Makinde has reduced the state to ‘Land Grabbing and Okada/Keke economy.’
“Credence was again given to the observation of pundits last week when the governor tabled before the House a proposed budget for 2024 which contained nothing.
“In the document, N434.2 billion is quoted as the total budget for the year but N260 billion is the total amount of funds expected in revenue leaving over N170 billion in deficit. How realistic is this?
“A whopping sum of N21 billion is budgeted for the Office of the Governor without any breakdown of what they intend to do with it in specific term while another N485 million would go Cabinet and Security service.
“The ruins in public facilities in the state is feasible in the deplorable condition of all the monumental structures in the Agodi State Secretariat while the Government House has been reduced to eyesore now harboring all sort of strange persons. Yet money has been allocated and released for the maintenance of these facilities since 2020 but there is nothing to show for it,” Sadare said.
On the 20 per cent allocation to education, the party wondered what happened to the previous allocations because, “virtually all public schools have suffered neglect while pupils carry chairs and table to classrooms from home.”
Oyo APC added that parents pay for learning materials such books as well as WAEC and NECO fees on their own.
The party also wondered what success the state has recorded in the area of agriculture, commerce, job creation among others in the last four years.
“We rely on the North for beans, tomato, peppers, cow, onions, rice, etc when we have massive arable land and human resources
“Ogun and Lagos States remain manufacturing and industrial hubs but in Oyo State, investors are being chased away with multiple taxes and confiscation of their land and properties as this was the case of one Ayo Mafikuyomi whose N800 million factory was seized by the state government recently in Ibadan,” Sadare added.
