Kazeem Ugbodaga

Governor Ambode : writes Assembly to vary budget 2015

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has earmarked N5.3 billion for the purchase of rescue helicopter and other security intervention.

This is contained in the Budget Re-ordering letter sent to the State House of Assembly for approval.

The governor had asked the Assembly to approve N23.975 billion re-ordering of the 2015 budget in order to meet up expenditure on capital projects.

In the letter, Ambode said approving the re-ordering of the budget would enable government construct pedestrian bridge at Ojodu Berger, construction of fly-over bridges at Ajah Roundabout and Pen Cinema, Agege, construction of blue light rail project, Lekki-Epe Expressway and acquisition of emergency/rescue helicopter and heavy duty equipment (cranes and forklift) and for Employment Trust Fund and Wealth Creation Programmes.

In the 2015 budget, the initial vote for security intervention was pegged at N1.5 billion, but the governor is seeking the House’s approval for additional N3.8 billion in the new re-ordering, jacking it to N5.3 billion to cater for the helicopter and other security interventions.

Former Governor Babatunde Fashola had purchased two helicopters during his tenure for rescue purpose but the helicopters are now being used for offshore operation to evacuate oil staff and are being managed by Caverton Helicopters.

During the last Ikorodu robbery, Ambode had said that if the police had a helicopter, the robbers would have been pursued as they escaped through the water, justifying the need for rescue helicopter.

It is also believed that the rescue helicopter could be used to rescue people in high rise buildings and other emergency occasions, such as boat capsize, among others.

However, in the budget re-ordering, the government jacked up the N55.75 billion earmarked for the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure for capital expenditure by N3.48 billion, bringing it to a total of N59.23 billion.

The governor also approved N1.077 billion for the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure for the completion of ongoing projects for the defunct Ministry of Rural Development.

The special expenditure was jacked up from N4.5 billion to N8.4 billion for special capital projects, while the contingency fund moved from N1.16 billion to N3.16 billion after re-ordering. The sum of N3 billion was earmarked for the new Employment Trust Fund, ETF, which had no provision in the original budget.

In the re-ordering, N500 million was cut from the N2 billion for the completion of ongoing Lagos Metropolitan Development Governance Project, LMDGP, pegging it at N1.5 billion, while of the N2.32 billion initially earmarked for the Public-Private Partnership, PPP, N1.8 billion was re-ordered, leaving a balance of N503 million.

Also, of the N6.5 billion budgeted for holistic shoreline project of the Ministry of Waterfront, N3.5 billion was cut from it, leaving a balance of N3 billion for the project. Of the N22.68 billion budgeted initially for the Lagos Area Metropolitan Transport Authority, LAMATA, N2 billion was re-ordered, leaving a balance of N20 billion.

The sum of N4.5 billion was re-ordered from the N10.6 billion earmarked for new waterworks, leaving a balance of N6.13 billion for the project, while the N600.96 million earmarked for the relocation of Computer Village was re-ordered, meaning that the government will not relocate the village anytime soon.

The Ode-Omi projects have been stopped as the N480.77 million budgeted for the project has been re-ordered. The same goes to the LAGBUS Asset Management Limited which got N500 million initially to acquire new buses, but the money has now been re-ordered and channeled to some other projects.

The sum of N1 billion was removed from the original N7.17 billion budget for the development of the Lekki Free Trade Zone and re-ordered, leaving a balance of N6.17 billion.

For the redevelopment of Isale-gangan, the initial budget of N1.03 billion has been cut by N500 million, leaving a balance of N530.3 million for the project, while the budget of the Office of Drainage Services, which was initially N4.3 billion has been reduced by N500 million with a balance of N3.8 billion left.