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Lagos Requires 7 Trillion Budget To Cope With Infrastructurural Pressure
From Lateef Taiwo
Lagos State requires a yearly budget of over 7 Trillion to adequately cope with pressure on its infrastructure, as it is carrying burden that is not commensurate with its revenue earnings.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-olu disclosed this on Monday when he received the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform at the State House, Marina, Lagos.
According to him, ” the highest budget the state had done was a little above 2 trillion due to constraints in national tax policies.
He said, “the state had the capacity to widen its tax base and enhance efficiency in collection mechanism but the efforts had been slowed down by bottlenecks put in its way by fiscal and tax administration framework whose authority is exclusively vested in the Federal Government.
Sanwo-olu said, “the state has not fully optimised it’s tax potential because the current revenue accruing to the state is a far cry from the actual projections.
“In Lagos, we know too well that we have capacity to do a lot from the revenue generation standpoint; more importantly, from the effective generation and utilization of the tax.
“During our bilateral meetings in preparation to present next year’s budget, “he explained, “we pulled numbers up to N7 trillion based on our needs. But we are constricted by only the amount of revenue we can generate and pegged the value at N2.2 trillion.
“This speaks to the huge gap that we have in our capacity to develop the economy quicker and faster. We can no longer continue to complain. What are those things we can do to improve our revenue stream and our ability to be able to leapfrog and take governance in a more audacious way.
“This engagement with your committee is critical at this time, as you go round States to have feelings of what the bottlenecks are,” adding that, “the committee’s objective was not to generate abstract and non-implementable documents, but to practically identify tax issues facing sub-national governments and eliminate bottlenecks.
Sanwo-Olu charged the committee to come up with quality intervention that would help the State attain their full potential in revenue generation and fiscal sustainability.
He said, “we all need to work collaboratively on this objective. If all constraints are attended to, we should begin to see monumental changes in our revenue projection. The potential is there and the numbers show the results we can achieve if fully explored, but we cannot sit back and think things will change overnight if we did not take the right approach to resolve the issues.
“We expect every member of this committee would put all your skills and mental resources into this task. I believe the committee will achieve the objectives for which Mr. President set it up. As a State, we are ready to give you all the support required. We will open our books and share data to learn where we also need to make changes for higher revenue performance,” Sanwo-olu added
On it’s part, the Committee Chairman, Taiwo Oyedele said, “Lagos was the first port of call for the committee considered to visit in its nationwide consultation, noting that the State’s achievement in tax reform had been a model that had been adopted by other States.
The tax specialist said, “the country needed to address its revenue problems, which, he said, would involve creating a robust tax system and quality spending.
According to him, “we are no longer at a point where we can continue to celebrate incremental progress in revenue generation; we need to accompany it with transformational shift in quality of spending of the generated revenue. Our spending on the ration of GDP is the lowest in the world, we need to address this without taking attention away from the quality of spending.”
The Committee led by its Chairman was in Lagos as part of the extended consultations with subnational stakeholders to develop viable tax administration framework for the country.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to maintain the status quo in a dispute over the party’s candidates emerging from the Benue State APC primaries for the 2027 general election.
The order was made on Thursday by Justice Inyang Ekwo during proceedings in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1429/2026, filed by Engr. Sesugh Akaagba and other aggrieved APC candidates from Benue State against the APC and INEC.
The plaintiffs had, through an ex parte motion filed on July 5, 2026, sought six interim reliefs, including an order restraining the APC from substituting its validly nominated candidates in Benue State through its June 29, 2026 correspondence, or any subsequent communication, to INEC, pending determination of the substantive suit.
They also sought an order compelling the APC to immediately transmit to INEC the names of candidates validly nominated during the primaries monitored by the electoral commission.
When the matter first came up on July 8, 2026, the court declined to grant the interim application immediately, directing both APC and INEC to appear and respond before any decision was taken. The matter was adjourned to July 16.
At Thursday’s proceedings, counsel representing the APC and INEC were present in court, while the plaintiffs were represented by Mohammed Ndarani, SAN, alongside his legal team.
In his ruling, Justice Ekwo held that since issues had been joined by the parties particularly with INEC now before the court, the defendants were required by law to preserve the subject matter of the litigation pending determination of the substantive suit.
When counsel to the plaintiffs urged the court to caution APC and INEC against taking any further action that could affect the disputed list of candidates, the judge responded that it was “not a matter of advice but of law,” stressing that the defendants were bound to maintain the status quo.
The court consequently restrained APC and INEC from taking any action capable of altering the disputed list of candidates pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
The defendants did not object to the restraining order.
At the commencement of proceedings, the court noted that all parties had voluntarily submitted to its jurisdiction by duly filing and exchanging their respective processes.
It held that there was no procedural or jurisdictional impediment to the expeditious determination of the substantive action, and directed that the matter be heard without further delay.
In furtherance of the objective of preserving the res and safeguarding the efficacy of the judicial process, the court ordered all parties to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and final determination of the substantive suit, restraining any act or omission capable of prejudicing the rights of the parties or rendering the proceedings nugatory.
The court further directed that INEC be served forthwith with the originating and all consequential processes.
The effect of the subsisting order is that INEC is restrained from tampering with the existing list of candidates pending final determination of the suit, and from receiving, recognising, or acting upon any purported substituted list of National Assembly candidates from Benue State submitted by the APC.
The matter was adjourned to July 21, 2026, for hearing of the substantive suit.
Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and former First Lady Patience Ibifaka Jonathan recently celebrated a significant family milestone as they attended the graduation ceremony of their son, Ariara Goodluck Jonathan, at Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.
The proud parents joined family members and well-wishers to witness Ariara receive his degree, marking the successful completion of his academic programme. The occasion was filled with joy as the Jonathan family commemorated the achievement, highlighting the importance they place on education and personal development.
The graduation ceremony attracted warm congratulatory messages from friends, associates, and admirers, who wished the graduate continued success in his future endeavours.
The Following names joined the political family of Sen. Dr. George Akume today after leaving the sinking Alia ship .
Under the leadership of Barr. Emmanuel Jime .
The are ;
Chief Nelson Alapa
Douglas pepe SAN senatorial Aspirant zone A,
Engr Peter Ashiekaa
QS Clement Beetseh
Former commissioners
Joy Luga
Ann itodo
Barr martins Shaagee
Miss Dorcas
Prof Usar Joseh
Prof Cephas Tushima
Chief Patrick Idoko
Hon Patience Akor
Hon Fred Idoko
Hon Lawrence Ekpo Onoja Jnr
Hon Andrew Abah
Hon Agbo Innocent Ikwumonu
Hon Simon Omachoko
Hon David Egboja
Dr John Garba
Among together,
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