November 09, (THEWILL) -Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has said that his administration would prosecute any erring officials or contractors indicted for compromising standards in buildings that result in the death and destruction of people’s properties in the state.
He added that if such an official or contractor is found guilty of compromising safety and standards, he or she will be jailed.
Abiodun disclosed this on Monday during the treasury board meeting on the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the 2022 Budget held at the Obas’ Complex, Abeokuta.
He said the state government would create a law to prosecute building officials who receive bribes to undermine the building standards in the state.
The governor said “I am coming up with a law that will send workers in the building industry to prison. Workers in these agencies responsible for building control are susceptible to taking bribes. I am going to ensure that there is something in our law that will send the head of the building control agency to prison if a building collapses in Ogun State under their watch.
“The preoccupation of those responsible for building control should not just be revenue but to ensure due process and best practices in consonance with the State Building Control Regulations.
“If somebody was given approval to construct a storey building and you find out that the person has started decking for the second floor, you give him a stop order and penalty for exceeding the original approval. That is not enough; the penalty should be punitive. Yes, I want to see the money but, I am more concerned about the welfare, well-being and wellness of our people”, he added
Speaking on the state’s economy, Abiodun said his administration has increased internally generated revenue and made more money than any other administration in one year at the end of September.
The governor, who equally said his government has grown the economy by 20 percent over last year, added that the performance of the 2020 budget is now over 70 percent, saying “we will achieve 85 percent by the end of the year”.
He stressed the determination of his administration to sustain the trajectory and improve on it in the coming year.
Abiodun explained that his administration opted to support the call by some state governments to collect Value Added Tax to ensure that those who generate VAT collect and enjoy it.
According to him, “the VAT campaign was in the spirit of restructuring and fiscal federalism”.
“We have made more money than any other administration in one year at the end of September. We have grown the economy by 20 percent over last year, already.
“Budget performance is over 70 percent now and we will achieve 85 percent by the end of the year
“We will collate MDA proposals by the end of the month and get the Exco approval to present the budget before the house. And we are hopeful that the needful will be done by the House – defence and synthesisation. By mid December, we should sign the 2022 budget into law”. Abiodun stated.
While stressing the need by the state to continue to think out-of-the-box to generate necessary funds to power the development of the state, the governor called for transparency and prudence in public spending.
“We must continue to think out of the box to generate the funds to power our development and the ‘Building Our Future Together’ Agenda. This is important because revenue generation is key to implementation of budget expenditure.
“More importantly, we must continue to be transparent and prudent in our spending, we equally need to be vigilant to ensure that funds appropriated are spent on projects for which they were allocated for and also block all leakages,” he added.
Abiodun further called for new revenue-generating methods from Ministries, Departments and Agencies, emphasising that no MDA would be expenditure-focused alone.
He charged the MDAs to be focused on blocking leakages and improving the revenue generating potential of their respective agencies.
