The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Governor Seyi Makinde to spell out specific projects that form part of the 2025 budget proposal he recently presented to lawmakers.
Naija News reports that Governor Makinde on Wednesday, November 13, submitted a proposed budget of N678.86 billion, dubbed the “Economic Stabilization Budget”, to the State House of Assembly for review and approval.
According to the Governor, the budget allocates ₱349.29 billion for capital expenditure, accounting for 50.59 percent, and ₱325.57 billion earmarked for recurrent expenditure, accounting for 49.41 percent of the total budget. .
However, the state's opposition parties criticized Makinde’s budget proposal as lacking transparency and called for clarification on specific projects, which account for 51% of the total budget of 679 billion pounds proposed by the governor for next year.
Oyo APC, in a statement issued through its Public Relations Secretary, Olawale Sadare, on Thursday expressed concern over the governor’s failure to engage with relevant stakeholders.
The party said the governor’s claims about involving residents in drafting the budget are “false.”
“This coordinated presentation was simply a mere attempt to do all justice as Governor Makinde was not accompanied by any of the relevant stakeholders in the preparations nor was he intending to take advantage of the appropriation bill upon passage by the legislators. It was a ritual.
“As far as Oyo APC is concerned, Governor Makinde’s claim that there was input from the people of the state in the 2025 budget is false. Percentage of the total amount of ₦679 billion.
“We also want him (Mr Makinde) to clarify the exact period in which workers should expect to start paying the recently announced minimum wage of ₦80,000 and the total monthly sum of the state wage bill to justify this wage. “We look forward to addressing the amount estimated as recurrent expenditure in the 2025 Budget,” the statement reads in part.
The opposition camp also wondered how Governor Makinde made his scoresheet, which claimed that the 2024 state budget of N515 billion was 70% successful in implementation.
“Governor Makinde claimed successful implementation of 70% of the 515 billion naira budget for 2024, but we do not know the parameters he used to score himself.The state health department has confirmed that residents have been diagnosed with Lassa fever, But for the World Bank, which is funding the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project, workers at understaffed public hospitals lament poor services while living in fear of cholera, smallpox and other diseases. The entire state capital (Ibadan) would have been washed away by floods and erosion.”
