Sanwo-Olu presents N1.69trn 2023 budget, describes Lagos as a “national asset”

Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Thursday presented an N1.69 trillion 2023 budget to the state house of assembly.

A breakdown of the expenditure profile, titled ‘budget of continuity’ shows that capital expenditure will take N932 billion, representing 55 percent of the total budget, while recurrent expenditure will gulp N759 billion.

The governor in his speech to the lawmakers restated his demand for a new revenue-sharing formula, and called for a special status for Lagos.

He described the state as a “national asset”.

“Lagos continues to experience increased pressure on social services due to unhindered migration from other parts of the country,” he said.

“It is for this reason that I always sought and will still continue to reiterate the need for Lagos to be accorded a special status as a national asset.

“Lagos is too big for this country to allow it to fail. Lagos is too strategic for us not to see it that the wholesome of Lagos is the wholesome of this country, that the benefits of Lagos transcend one region, one part, or one scope of this country.

“As a microsome of the entire country, Lagos deserves all the support it can get at the national level.”