THE Lagos State Government has failed to keep its word in improving budgetary allocations to the state’s education and health sectors.
The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is serving out his second term and has said repeatedly that he was prioritising education and health on his administration’s agenda.
It is already five years since he assumed office and the budgetary allocations for education and health have continued to dwindle to a single digit, despite his promises to raise them to a double-digit percentage.
On January 15, Sanwo-Olu signed the 2024 “Budget of Renewal” into law. The budget spells out how funds were allocated to different sectors, aligning with his ‘THEMES+’ developmental agenda.
Upon assuming office in 2019, Sanwo-Olu anchored his administration agenda on ‘THEMES’ and took it further after his re-election for a second time in 2023.
THEMES+ stands for traffic management and transportation; health and environment; education and technology; making Lagos a 21st-century economy; entertainment and tourism; and security and governance, showing that education and health are priority areas in the agenda.
The ICIR reported in March 2019 that Sanwo-Olu had during his governorship campaign promised to raise the budgetary allocation for education from 12.07 per cent to 18 per cent and health from 8.6 per cent to 15 per cent.
In December 2019, the governor reiterated his promise to increase budgetary allocation to both sectors, effective from 2020.
In August 2022, at a two-day summit on ‘Creating a Sustainable Fit-for-Purpose Education Model,’ he also repeated his administration’s promise on education.
He was quoted to have said, “Education is not just a pillar in one of our THEMES agenda, it’s one of the dividends of democracy and one of the cardinal objectives of our administration.
“We see it as one of the tools that can end poverty in our system. “We are not paying lip service to education, we are taking it seriously. Education has continued to receive an increased budget in our administration.”
However, the governor has not kept his promises as budgetary allocations to the two key sectors dwindled in 2024.
Lagos’ 2024 budget breakdown
The Lagos State government approved N2.27 trillion budget for its 2024 appropriation year.
A breakdown of the budget shows that N1.316 trillion or 58 per cent was approved as capital expenditure and the remaining N952.431 billion or 42 per cent was earmarked for recurrent expenditure.
The recurrent expenditure would be spent on payment of salaries, wages, allowances, social contributions, social benefits, public debt charges, overhead costs for running government day-to-day operational activities and others.
Education and health budgets decline, stay at single-digit
In the 2024 budget, the Lagos State government allocated N158.27 billion in total expenditure for education.
It comprises N62.78 billion for personnel expenditure, N57.84 billion for recurrent expenditure and N37.65 billion for capital expenditure.
Similarly, it allocated N162.08 billion in total expenditure for health. It consists of personnel expenditure of N68.97 billion; recurrent expenditure of N58.93 billion; and capital expenditure of N34.18 billion.
Further computation shows that in percentage terms, these amount to 6.98 per cent allocated for education and 7.15 per cent for health. This represents a far cry from the 18 per cent and 15 per cent of the state budgets that the governor promised for the sectors.
The ICIR reports that budget allocation for the two sectors declined in 2024 relative to 2023.
In 2023, the Lagos state government allocated N156.75 billion for education and N149.06 billion for health out of the N1.77 trillion overall budget for that year, representing 8.86 per cent allocation for education and 8.42 per cent for health, respectively.
No sign of keeping promises
The drop in budgetary allocation for education and health despite the increase in the budget size to N2.27 trillion in 2024 from N1.77 trillion in 2023 shows Sanwo-Olu’s inability to keep to his promises for these sectors.
During the signing of the budget into law, the Lagos state governor said that he was prioritising spending on infrastructure, environment, education and technology among others.
He said, “We believe this budget will not only help to advance economic growth and sustainability, it will also transform the lives of the residents and businesses.
“All the objectives laid out in the Appropriation Law align with our THEMES+ agenda.”