Against all economic challenges of the year 2012, the Lagos State Government , weekend, announced a full year budget performance of 89 percent for the 2012 Budget, the highest since the inception of the present administration in 2007.
The state governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), announced this while speaking with newsmen after the first session of the three-day Executive Council/Permanent Secretaries retreat being held at the Orchid Hotels and Events Centre, Lekki with the theme, ‘’Enhancing Effective and Efficient Service Delivery in Lagos State.’’
Expressing the readiness of his team to perform even better in the 2013 budget year, Fashola, however, appealed for voluntary payment of tax by all taxable citizens of the state, saying it is the only tool with which government can work effectively.
“It is no longer the capacity to perform. We have demonstrated that the more money we have the more performance of the budget and the more impact it will make on the lives of our people. So this is just an appeal now for people to voluntarily pay their taxes. That is the tool of government. If you give us the tool, we will deliver”, Fashola said.
Fielding questions from journalists on the retreat which focused on the review of the implementation of decisions taken by the body in the last retreat among other topics, Fashola, who said the improvement was the fulfillment of the promise he made during the third budget review to do better in the fourth quarter, attributed the increase in performance to availability of resources and hard work.
“You’ll recall that at the third quarter briefing, I indicated that we had a quarterly performance of 65 percent, that was down from the second quarter of 84 percent and I promised that we were going to work harder in the fourth quarter. I believe we have done just that.
“Standing on its own, we have achieved a 143 percent performance in the fourth quarter”, the governor said, adding, “So, what we have cumulatively as performance for the 2012 is a budget performance of 89 percent, the highest we have ever done since we started in 2007”.
“Standing on its own, we have achieved a 143 percent performance in the fourth quarter”, the governor said, adding, “So, what we have cumulatively as performance for the 2012 is a budget performance of 89 percent, the highest we have ever done since we started in 2007”.
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