OGUN ECONOMIC BLUEPRINT WILL FAST TRACK DEVELOPMENT – OGUN COMMISSIONER

ABEOKUTA – The Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser to the Governor, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo says the State’s Economic Development Blueprint will reposition every sector of the economy and address adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Okubadejo, who made this known recently, during the 2021 Virtual Budget Highlight and Breakdown at the conference room, Ministry of Finance, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, said the economic development strategy blueprint, which is a medium-term strategy from 2021- 2025 would allow for improvement and adjustments where necessary.

The Chief Economic Adviser noted that the overall ambition of the State government is to put in place measures that would reposition, it as one of the fastest growing economies in Nigeria, and to also maximise the potential in every sector, noting that the four key economic goals are geared towards job creation, poverty eradication, creating investment opportunities and improving real sector growth.

He further explained that the government is advancing the implementation and operationalization of the Geographical Information Sysytem (GIS), towards effective administering and management of land resources in the State, saying it would open up ‘Economic Development Anchor Areas’ to provide large scale signature infrastructural project organised in clusters to stimulate economic activities.

On the improved revenue generation, the Commissioner revealed that the operations of the State Internal Revenue Service are digitalised, to allow tax payers pay directly into government’s coffers through e-platform channels, as well as broaden areas, which would capture tax payer and companies that were not currently captured in the tax net, adding that the full implementation of the Residency Rule would be strictly enforced.

While responding to the sustainability of the economic reforms, Okubadejo noted that a lot of laws had been enacted by the present administration, to drive the economic policies and checkmate inconsistency, submitting that the legal frameworks would enable investors have confidence in the government.

“In driving Ogun economy, we have established Public Private Partnership Office, which was predicated on the PPP law, we believe strongly that the vision of the present administration is anchored on PPP. We have also established the Business Environment Council, to help improve the State’s ranking in ease of doing business, by focusing on different technical working areas, such as business registration, acquiring properties, issues of construction premise and contact enforcement, in order to remove all the unnecessary bottlenecks in business registration.

We have also established Ogun State Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency, to coordinate all promotion activities and facilitate investment opportunities, towards making the State the preferred investment destination of choice”, he affirmed.

In his welcome address, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Waheed Odusile, said the virtual meeting was premised on the need for media and the general public to have a detailed understanding of the budget breakdown, noting that the present administration would always involve citizen’s in its policy formulations and implementation, to facilitate the needed developmental objectives.