Fashola Signs Year 2012 Appropriation Bill Into Law

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Tuesday signed into law the State’s Year 2012 Budget with a call on Lagosians to voluntarily pay their taxes so as to provide the Government the essential tool to successfully execute the budget for the benefit of the people.

The N485.292 billion Appropriation Bill which was presented to the State House of Assembly on November 14, 2011, by the State Governor, was represented to the Governor for his assent with an increase of N6.65 billion as the House jacked up the Budget to N491.941 billion.

In his brief remarks before signing the Bill into Law, Governor Fashola also enjoined the people to keep the peace pointing out that the Budget would only be implemented successfully in an environment of peace, security and tolerance.

Pledging the readiness and commitment of his administration to do everything to make the budget the most successful budget in its implementation and in its impact on the lives of Lagosians, Governor Fashola, however, said as much as government has demonstrated its readiness to implement the budget successfully, the people also have a responsibility to support the Government in order to make it succeed.

He declared, “Let me seize this opportunity to also say that as much as Government has demonstrated its readiness to work the Budget, there is also a corresponding leadership responsibility on all the citizens in the State and that includes first the obligation to keep the peace”.

“This Budget will not work in an environment of chaos and insecurity and, therefore, we all owe a collective duty to continue to live in peaceful coexistence, religious tolerance, multi-ethnic tolerance and it is only in that environment that we can really get down to the work that we need to do to deliver on services”, the Governor said.

Enjoining the citizens to pay their taxes as part of their leadership responsibility, Governor Fashola also said, “As important as security is, we are now asking the citizens to provide us with the tools to work this budget and the tool that will work this budget is cash”.

“We expect the citizens to pay their taxes especially voluntarily to reduce the cost of collecting taxes which we can use for other things to provide more social services. We believe that the cost of collection, if reduced, will bring better benefits to the citizens”, the Governor said.

Governor Fashola also tasked the State’s tax collectors and tax operators “to be much more civil, urbane and also much more restrained in the process of enforcement” adding, however, that tax collection has advocacy as stimulant which, according to him, Government has done for the last four years and also very strict enforcement which Government will do in the years ahead starting from this year.

“And, therefore, I believe that if many more of us pay their taxes voluntarily, the burden will be shared across board rather than a few people carrying the burden of the whole State”, the Governor said, adding also that it is incumbent on all tax-paying adults to fully declared their income and pay their appropriate taxes.

“Every effort also to seek to short-change the system that benefits us by seeking to either compromise our tax collectors really does us more harm than good. Those who short-change the system and get compromise either by unauthorized payment don’t have an obligation to provide security, they don’t have an obligation to move your refuse, they don’t have an obligation to build roads. It is this Government that has that obligation and it is, therefore, in our best interest that every kobo that is due as tax gets to the body that you have elected, that you have voted for so that you can hold us accountable to explain what we did with the resources”, the Governor said.

The Governor thanked the Speaker and members of the State House of Assembly for their commitment to seeing that the budget is approved before the end of Year 2011, adding, “We thank them for the kind of leadership they have shown by deferring their recess, in putting the interest of Lagos over and above their personal convenience.

“I know it took working on Saturdays and Sundays to meet the deadline of passing the Appropriation Bill before the end of the year. I believe the people of Lagos will be grateful , thankful that this is the kind of representation their overwhelming vote has elected for them and I am very proud of you, your selflessness and your sense of public duty”, Governor Fashola said.

On the part of the Executive Council, the Governor declared, “We would do no less than take up the torch and the baton from where you left it off and that is why we decided that the first business of the first day of the new working year would be the signing of this bill into law”.

“Let me say that this budget will help us consolidate the gains that we have made; it will help us reach other parts we have not reached; it will hopefully and positively impact on the lives of the people on whose behalf we serve the State”, the Governor said.

Noting that Year 2012 would be a most challenging year, Governor Fashola, however, declared, “I am certain that the challenges are all meant to be overcome by men and women who are dedicated to a common cause to create opportunities out of challenges and that is the kind of Government you will find in Lagos State; and that is the kind of commitment we have made this morning at our Executive Council meeting that all hands must be on board to make our stay here very worthwhile for the people of Lagos”.

According to him, some of the components of the budget include increased expenditure on Education, “especially tertiary education with LASU”, scholarships for indigent students who want to access the State’s Education system, Youth and Women Empowerment “for greater economic development” and component in support of social Housing Scheme which Government intends to work on during the year as well as “component for the construction and provision of a lot of our inner city roads to ease transportation bottlenecks and make life much more bearable for our people”.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the House Committee on Economic Planning and Budget, Hon Mudashiru Obasa said the total size of the 2012 Appropriation law passed by the House is N491,941 billion made up of N233,620Billion as the Recurrent Expenditure and N258,321 billion as Capital Expenditure.

Hon. Obasa said the Committee enjoyed tremendous support from the members of the State cabinet and members of the State House of Assembly who attended sessions on Saturdays and Sundays as well as public holidays to ensure that the budget proposal was scrutinized and passed before the end of Year 2011.

He said the commitment to meet the December deadline of passage of the Budget was a follow up to the promise the whole members of the House gave to Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on November 14, 2011 when he presented the budget estimates to the House.

According to him, the Budget Committee members also resolved during the third reading of the Budget that there would be a quarterly review by Ministries, Departments and Agencies for them to always come forward and discuss the performance of the budget, adding that the quarterly review will assist both the Legislative arm and the MDAs to review the budget and determine how positively it is impacting on the life of the people.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Ben Akabueze, said the quick passage and immediate signing into law of the 2012 Appropriation Law is an indication of the readiness of the administration to implement the budget adding that the signing of the 2012 Appropriation Bill into law by the State Government on the first working day of the year 2012 signposts the seriousness of the administration.

The Commissioner said a detailed breakdown of the 2012 budget estimates will be given by the State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget on Thursday at the Press Centre in Alausa.

Also present at the brief ceremony were the Deputy Governor, Hon. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Oluranti Adebule, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Lanre Babalola, Commissioner for Works, Dr. Femi Hamzat, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaiye, his Transportation and Health counterparts, Comrade Kayode Opeifa and Dr. Jide Idris respectively among other members of the State Executive Council as well as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Kolawole Taiwo and other top government functionaries.