The Ogun State Commissioner for Finance, Dapo Okubadejo, has revealed that the state’s economy is currently worth over N6trn.
Okubadejo, who is also the chief economic adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun, disclosed this on Monday during the 2024 budget presentation media parley, held in Abeokuta, the state capital.
He disclosed that the state was targeting N240bn internally generated revenue this year.
He said, “The economy of Ogun State when we started in 2019 was much lower, but it is now over N6trn. To give a sense to this, the budget of the whole country is N28trn, and the totality for the states is N17trn out of which Ogun has N703bn making us number five in the country.
“We actually started with a budget of over N300bn but within four years we have doubled this with a budget performance of 75 per cent. In a few years, we would be talking of a trillion naira budget. Our land mass alone is 16000 per square metres with so many resources to be harnessed.”
Okubadejo stressed that the state was one of the states in the country that depended less on federal allocation.
He added that there was a need for the state to be economically and financially independent.
The commissioner explained that the 2024 budget of over N703bn would have a significant and positive effect on the people of the state.
He explained, “We are projecting N240bn from our internally generated revenue this year. We are one of the states that are less dependent on federal allocation.
“We have to be economically and financially independent as a state. The execution of the 2024 budget is critical to us. Our revenue in the state is increasing while our debt profile is decreasing. The debt is used to fund capital expenditure that will improve the development of the state.”
The budgeted N472bn last year, 48.94 per cent lower than this year’s budget.
Okubadejo noted that the state remained one of the fastest-growing economies in the country, saying that the economy needs to be more robust for the state to achieve its goals.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Budget, Olaolu Olabimtan, explained that the state would be spending more on capital expenditure in 2024.
Olabimtan said that 71 per cent of the budget would be towards developmental projects.
The Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ade Adesanya, explained that the state government was working with the Federal Ministry of Works to get more roads completed.
“This year, we are going to work towards completion of abandoned projects, ongoing projects, Gateway Agro Cargo Airport and other road projects, including Agbara-Lusada-Atan Road.
“Others are Ilaro-Owode, Sango-Ijoko-Agbado-Akute road. We are going to start witnessing a lot of commissioning soon,” he said.
