Lagos Assembly approves N500bn bond for infrastructure development

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday approved a three-year N500 billion bond for the state government spanning 2016 to 2019.
The approval followed the presentation and adoption of a recommendation by the Ad hoc Committee constituted by the House on the bond.
Presenting the report, Chairman of the committee, Mr Yinka Ogundimu, informed the lawmakers that the bond was necessary for the development of the state.
According to him, it will be repaid through deduction of 23 per cent of the state’s internally generated revenue.
Ogundimu, who is also Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, added that necessary plans had been put in place to ensure that the money was judiciously spent for the purpose it was meant for.
Contributing to the debate, Mr Rotimi Olowo, Chairman of the House Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, said that Lagos state remained the future of Nigeria.
He said that the bond would assist in the infrastructural development of the state.
“If the bond is geared towards development, it will open Lagos state to other parts of the world and generate more employment for the people.
“We have enough to take care of the bond. By 2019, Nigeria will be out of recession and Lagos will be better for it,” Olowo (APC-Somolu I) said.
In his contribution, Chairman, House Committee on Waterfront Infrastructure, Mr Gbolahan Yishawu, said that the state had always been at the forefront of development in the country.
The lawmaker said that the bond was meant to increase spending and develop the state.
Other lawmakers from the majority and minority political parties in the assembly gave their support for the bond’s approval “to further move the state forward’’.
In his remark, Speaker of the house, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, said that the bond would help to develop the state and ensure its adequate infrastructure development.
After the debate, the bond was approved through a unanimous voice vote by the legislators.