Compromise standards, go to jail, Abiodun warns building officials

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has warned that his administration would not hesitate to prosecute any official of the state government or contractor indicted for compromising standards in erecting structures that threaten life and property.

He added that if such official or contractor is found guilty of compromising safety and standards, he or she would be jailed.

Abiodun gave the warning, yesterday, during the Treasury Board Meeting on 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the 2022 Budget held at the Obas’ Complex, Abeokuta.

“I am coming up with a law that will send workers in the building industry to prison. Workers in these agencies responsible for building control are susceptible to taking bribes. I am going to ensure that there is something in the law that will send heads of building control agency to prison if a building collapses in Ogun State under their watch.

Abiodun, who declared that his administration had increased the Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) and made more money than any other administration in one year at the end of September, said his government had grown the economy by 20 per cent over last year. He added that the performance of the budget was now over 70 per cent, saying: “We will achieve 85 per cent by the end of the year.”

He stressed the determination of the administration to sustain the trajectory recorded and also improve on it in the coming year.

Abiodun said that his administration opted to support the call by some state governments to collect Value Added Tax (VAT).

According to him, the VAT campaign was in the spirit of restructuring and fiscal federalism.

Abiodun emphasised that no Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) would be expenditure-focused alone.

He, therefore, charged the MDAs to be focused on blocking leakages and improve the revenue generating potentials of their respective agencies.

He said that the introduction of the Ogun State Land Administration and Revenue Management System (OLARMS) would help to enhance operational efficiency, effectiveness and boost revenue generation.

The governor also charged the new Head of Service, Dr. Nofiu Aigoro, to lead all the MDAs in the process of ensuring that the 2022 budget document translates to a wholesome implementable and realistic programme that would increase the prosperity of the people.

In his remarks, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Olaolu Olabimtan, who disclosed that the Medium Term Expenditure Framework introduced in 2019 is now an improved model, added that the state as of September 30, 2021 had attained 80 per cent of its IGR and 70 per cent for budget performance.

On his part, the Chief Economic Adviser and Commissioner for Finance, Dapo Okubadejo, noted that OLARMS had started to gather momentum with over one thousand five hundred applicants received so far.