The Ondo State House of Assembly has formally passed the 2026 Appropriation Bill, setting the state’s spending plan at N524 billion. This final figure represents a significant increase of N31 billion from the initial N492 billion proposal presented by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa in November 2025.
The budget, officially titled the “Budget of Economic Consolidation,” now moves to the Governor for assent, marking a critical step in the state’s fiscal planning cycle. The passage underscores the legislative arm’s role in scrutinizing and shaping executive proposals to align with perceived public need and economic strategy.
A key feature of the passed budget is its heavy tilt towards capital expenditure, a detail often scrutinized by economists and development experts. Of the total N524 billion:
- N303 billion (57.89%) is allocated to Capital Expenditure. This includes funding for infrastructure projects like roads, schools, hospitals, and power generation—investments intended to create long-term assets and stimulate economic activity.
- N220 billion (42.11%) is earmarked for Recurrent Expenditure, which covers operational costs such as public servant salaries, overheads, and debt servicing.
This capital-heavy structure suggests a strategic intent to drive development through project execution, though its success hinges entirely on effective implementation and revenue generation.
The increase from the original proposal stemmed from the legislative review process. Mr. Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, Chairman of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, reported that while the committee exercised restraint on most additional funding requests from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), it approved upward revisions in “a few critical areas.” This highlights the legislature’s power of the purse and its role in reprioritizing executive spending plans based on its own assessments.
Ogunmolasuyi also issued a crucial directive to MDAs: to strengthen their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). This remark points to a universal challenge for Nigerian states—over-reliance on federal allocations—and signals an expectation for agencies to become more financially self-sufficient. His concurrent call for improved funding for staff training underscores the link between a skilled bureaucracy and effective revenue collection and project management.
In his address, the Speaker, Chief Olamide Oladiji, framed the budget as a tool to “strengthen economic growth in the state.” He promised continued collaboration with the executive branch and, importantly, committed the Assembly to monitoring the budget’s implementation. This post-passage oversight is vital, as a budget’s worth is determined not by its figures on paper, but by the tangible projects and services it delivers to citizens. Oladiji’s promise seeks to address the common gap between appropriation and execution in public finance.
The Assembly has now entered a six-week recess, following what the Speaker described as a year of milestone achievements and people-oriented legislation. The focus now shifts to the executive arm to begin the complex task of executing this N524 billion plan, a process that will test the state’s administrative capacity and revenue resilience in the year ahead.
Source: NAN
