Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji on Monday signed the 2025 Appropriation bill of N375.7 billion, tagged “Budget of Sustainable Impact,” into law following its passage by the State House of Assembly.
Assenting to the bill at the Executive Council Chamber of the Governor’s office, Ado- Ekiti at a brief ceremony witnessed by the Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye; members of the State Executive Council and members of the state House of Assembly, Governor Oyebanji thanked the Lawmakers for the prompt passage of the bill, adding that the budget would revive the economy of the State and further drive the shared prosperity agenda of his administration.
Recall that Governor Oyebanji presented the appropriation bill to the state House of Assembly on October 29th 2024 with the assurance that his government was making a concerted effort to bridge the infrastructure deficit, ensure food security, wealth creation, and welfare of the people, enhance productivity of the people and the economy as well as create the enabling environment for investors to increase the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said it has been his tradition to ensure that appropriation bill is signed into law before the end of the year in order to maintain the January to December budget cycle in line with the tenets of fiscal discipline and our good governance agenda.
He added that he was happy that he has kept faith with this in fulfilment of his avowed commitment to working his talk.
The Governor highlighted his top priority agenda for 2025 to include agriculture and food security, wealth creation, and infrastructural development, adding that the document would allow his administration to consolidate on the achievements recorded so far, and complete all ongoing projects as well as provide the required infrastructure for the economic transformation of the state at large.
He thanked the speaker and other members of the state House of Assembly for their cohesiveness and resoluteness in the quest to ensure the state’s overall development through sound, robust legislation and efficient legislative scrutiny of the bill.
The Governor restated that the Ekiti Legislators had been a worthy partner in progress with the executive rather than constituting themselves as a clog in the wheels of Ekiti progress and development, calling on them to continue to place Ekiti in the front burner of their deliberations over and above partisan politics and selfish aggrandizement.
While commending President Tinubu for various reforms that have attracted more funds to the state, Governor Oyebanji said,
“As we are all aware, successful implementation of the budget depends to a very large extent on the availability of funds, to this end, let me specially appreciate and commend the President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his team for the economic reforms that have been embarked upon to correct the structural problems confronting our economy and engender a sustainable development.
These reforms have significantly improved the revenue accruing to the state from federation account in the past years, we expect this enhanced revenue flow to continue in and beyond 2025.
“It is my pleasure to be in your midst this morning to sign the 2025 appropriation bill into law in fulfilment of my statutory obligation as Governor of Ekiti state in accordance with the 1999 constitution as amended.
“This occasion marks the third time I will be signing appropriation bill into law, aside from supplementary bills which are usually prepared in the course of implementing annual budget to reflect the national circumstances not for-seen as at the time of preparing the original budget.
“The 2025 budget christened ‘Budget of Sustainable Impact’ has a size of N375,790,077,618.15. it is noteworthy that the budget, which is a product of wide consultation with the people of Ekiti state was prepared based on our expected economic reality over the next one year. It also align with fiscal discipline, fiscal principle of transparency, accountability and inclusivity.
Speaking earlier before presenting the bill to the governor, Rt. Hon. Adeoye Aribasoye described the budget, titled Budget of Sustainable Impact as not merely a financial document but a powerful testament to the state’s unwavering commitment to the well-being of all Ekiti residents.
The Governor added that throughout the process of deliberating on the bill, the legislators placed a high premium on transparency and accountability driven by fiscal discipline.
The Speaker also stated that the signing of the budget reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the welfare and prosperity of the people, as it is a vital tool for driving development, creating opportunity, and ultimately improving the lives of the people.
