Fashola presents 2012 budget

The Lagos State Governor, Mr. babatunde Fashola, will on Monday (today) present the 2012 budget estimates to the state House of Assembly.The budget outlay is expected to exceed last years N405bn due to what the government has described as increasing expenditure of the state.The exact estimate was still shrouded in secrecy, on Sunday.Fashola in 2011 presented N445, 180bn to the Assembly, an amount that was slashed to N405bn by the lawmakers. The Special Adviser, Media, to the Governor, Mr, Hakeem Bello, confirmed the presentation, but declined to mention the total estimate. He said, "I have not seen it." Expected at the presentation are the members of the state executive council, heads of parastatals and party leaders.In another develelopment, the state government said the Freedom of Information Bill would soon be domesticated in Lagos.The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeola Ipaye, who spoke at a lecture organised by the Lagos Television, added that the bill was being fine-tuned by the state Assembly and would be more robust and acceptable to the people.Earlier, the guest speaker, Fred Agbaje, said nobody could hold down information from being circulated, especially with the advent of online media.He said special courts should be established to try cases in pursuant of the FoI Act. Founder of Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, observed that FoI Law did not mean character assassination, vengeance or back stabbing of others.
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