Ambode to Inherit Debt Profile of N418.203 Bn in Lagos

Lagos State Governor-elect, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode will tomorrow Friday be sworn in as Governor of Lagos State.  But he will be resuming the most elevated office in Lagos State with a debt profile of N418.203 Billion incurred over the last four years.

As at 2010, the debt profile of Lagos State was N204.049 billion but it rose to N240.653 billion in 2011. By 2012, the debt profile dropped to N336.543 billion and rose to N434.386billion in 2013 and N418.203 billion in 2014, Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ayo Gbeleye said at a press conference in Lagos.

He said that the Lagos State Government has N100.73 billion in sinking fund to finance the debt over a period of time in addition to Internally Generated Revenue that has hit N23 billion monthly.

The state government also budgeted N489. 69 billion for the year 2014 from which ongoing projects are expected to be financed in addition to executing his manifestoes which includes running a 24 hours economy, set up a four-year N25 billion trust fund to cater for the unemployed people in the state.

He is also expected to set up the Lagos Employment Trust Fund (LETF)  through which residents would  access a minimum of N1 billion annually for entrepreneurial ventures across the state’s five divisions of Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos and Epe.

“We will protect the growth of small and medium scale enterprises by providing tax incentives,” said Mr. Ambode, a former Accountant-General of the state.

“We will implement government policies that will encourage the private sector to employ more citizens and foster economic development.

“We will boost internally generated revenue by improving the collection mechanism through e-governance.

“We will encourage the creation of a Corporate Social Responsibility Trust Fund (CSR-TF) by the Private Sector, to be managed by a Board of Trustees charged with the responsibility of identifying growth opportunities yearly and financing such opportunities to further boost economic development across sectors and communities in the State,” Ambode had said in his manifesto.