Ekiti 2013 Budget To Be Revised For Project Completion

L-R (Front Row): Ekiti State House of Assembly Members, Mrs. Modupe Olayinka (ACN, Ado II); Olajide Fatunmbi (ACN, Moba II); and, Mrs. Olubunmi Oriniowo (PDP, Ido-Osi I), during the 2nd Executive/Legislature Parley, at the Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort.

The 2013 Budget of Ekiti State is to be revised to ensure a speedy completion of all ongoing projects.

This formed part of resolutions reached at the Second Executive-Legislature Parley which took place from Wednesday to Saturday at the Ikogosi Warm Spring Resorts, Ikogosi-Ekiti.

The parley had in attendance Governor Kayode Fayemi, his deputy, Prof. Dupe Adelabu, members of the State Executive Council, members of the State House of Assembly and National Assembly members from the state.

Participants in the programme noted that the eight-point agenda of the Fayemi administration has led to a huge expansion in the stock of infrastructure in the state and attracted investors from far and wide.

According to a communiqué issued at the end of the conference, the budget should be revised to ensure the completion of the capital projects being executed by the Fayemi administration before new ones are embarked upon.

It was also resolved that the Mid-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) that informed the 2013 Budget should be updated and extended to 2016 for it to form the basis of the 2014 Budget.

The MTEF for 2014 and 2015, according to the communiqué should cover the following sectors: Agriculture, Education, Health, Urban and Physical Planning, Lands, Tourism and Infrastructure.

Participants further resolved that immediate action should be taken by appropriate government agencies to design and follow through with an aggressive plan for a sustainable Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), as the state could no longer rely on the insufficient allocation from the federal purse..

The plan must include clear measures to capture all existing revenue sources, expand the revenue base, and block all loopholes as well as leakages.

It was equally resolved that a Stakeholders’ Forum comprising individuals and groups drawn from across economic, political and economic boundaries should be convened to help government think through a better future society, particularly to bring back the core values of integrity, hard work and honesty that defined, and still define the Ekiti society and identity.

Appropriate MDAs, especially the Ministry of Integration and Inter-governmental Affairs were mandated to take urgent action to optimize benefits to Ekiti State from the budget of the Federal Government.

The parley recommended a census of on-going and abandoned federal projects, including roads in Ekiti to inform advocacy for a better deal from Abuja as a good start for such an assignment.

It urged the Executive to assist the Legislature with requisite support to undertake its law-making, appropriation and oversight responsibilities.

The parley also lauded government’s investment in the Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort, which led to the readiness of the world class resort for.  This they noted was in fulfilment of the pledge by Governor Kayode Fayemi that government programmes including seminars and conferences should hold at the redeveloped resort  effective from  January 2013.

Last modified: May 13, 2013