The Ikorodu Local Government, Lagos State has presented a N4.1 billion 2025 budget proposal to its legislative arm.

Mr Wasiu Adesina, Executive Chairman of the local government, while addressing the legislative arm of the council on Tuesday, said the budget was 15.8 per cent above the 2024 approved appropriation.

The budget was tagged: “Budget of Consolidation .

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According to him, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the council is projected at N112.

800,000million and the state co-ordinated revenue is put at N62.500,000million, while the total recurrent expenditure is N2.736,732,534billion.

Adesina said the projected allocation from the federation account is N1,467,785,220.

86k and value-added tax (VAT) is estimated at N2.300,079,893,38 billion.

He said that other allocations stood at N105,567,420.20k

The chairman said the budget was anchored on three core pillars; infrastructure renewal, human capital development and economic empowerment.

He said that his administration was committed to advancing on infrastructure development agenda by prioritising the construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of roads, drainage systems and public utilities.

Adesina,reiterated his commitment to stimulating local activities, supporting Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SME’s) as well as agricultural ventures, and creating employment for youths and women.

He said education and health care remained pivotal to his administration’s development goals, adding that the council had allocated substantial resources to improve the quality of education in schools.

Adesina appreciated stakeholders, community leaders and residents of the local government for their unwavering support and trust in the administration.

“Let us remain steadfast in serving our people diligently, upholding the principles of good governance and fostering unity within our community,” he said.

Speaking after the presentation, Mr Adebola Ajayi, Leader of the legislative arm, commended the chairman and the management team for their thorough and responsible efforts in preparing a comprehensive budget.

He said the legislature would scrutinise and vet the budget proposal with utmost care, ensuring its alignment with the needs of Ikorodu people, particularly in areas such as youths empowerment and community development.

“Today’s budget presentation marks an opportunity for us to exercise our legislative authority effectively.

“Our goal is to ensure that public funds are utilised with the highest level of transparency and accountability for the benefit of the community,” he said.(NAN)

The Police Command in Anambra has urged residents of the state to report any of its officers and men who erred in the course of duty before, during and after Yuletide for appropriate sanctions.

SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), said this while briefing newsmen in Awka on Tuesday.

Ikenga said the measure was to ensure that policemen were professional in the discharge of their duties by shunning extortion, harassment and unruly behaviour.

“The Commissioner of Police, Mr Nnaghe Itam, has directed the deployment of operatives of X Squad to ensure that personnel at various checkpoints upheld a high standard of professionalism in the discharge of their duties.

“This will also ensure that the police on duty shunned any acts of extortion, harassment and unruly behaviour, especially toward the travelling public,” he said.

He said that the police team led by CSP Emeka Chukwuemeka would complement the already deployed personnel to maintain law and order.

“The team will also patrol and ensure operatives complied with standard operational procedure of the force,” he told newsmen.

According to him, the Public Complaint Bureau, and Complaint Response Unit will be 24-hour alert to attend to the security request of residents of the state.

The CP said every resident or visitor to Anambra deserved to be treated decently in line with the policing principles laid down by I-GP, Kayode Egbetokun.

“Therefore the public is hereby advised to promptly report erring officers to the command for appropriate sanction.

“You are encouraged to call 112, the Control Room number 07039194332, X Squad Commander on 08033294280 or the PPRO on 08039334002,” he said.

The PPRO enjoined residents to also call on the various Area Commands and DPOs in their areas for quick response when in distressed. (NAN)

The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO) has sealed three companies for extracting large quantities of groundwater for commercial purposes without proper authorisation and compliance with regulations.

The three companies are Nigerian Bottling Company, producers of Coca-Cola, FrieslandCampina, makers of Peak Milk and Guinness Nigeria Plc.

Mr Olowu Babatunde, Director, Technical Services, LASWARCO, said this during an enforcement on Tuesday in Lagos.

Babatunde said that LASWARCO had been engaging with these companies for over seven years to encourage compliance but efforts have been met with limited success.

“We operate a law that empowers us to regulate most of these heavy abstractors in Lagos State.

“Abstractors are individuals or entities that extract large quantities of groundwater for commercial purposes.

“So, these companies that we have sealed, basically three of them – Coca-Cola, FreislandCampina and Guinness, abstract water in large quantities.

“And we have been engaging them over time. At least, I have been here for more than seven years now. We’ve been engaging these companies for more than seven years now.

“Some, either they do partial compliance, or some don’t comply at all. So, now that we started implementation of our regulation, we now compel them to fulfill all their regulatory demands,” he said.

Report says that the enforcement was a follow-up of a news briefing on unregulated groundwater abstraction by Mr Tokunbo Wahab, the Commissioner, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, held on Monday.

Wahab noted that the Environmental Management Protection Law 2017 empowered LASWARCO to regulate groundwater activities and impose penalties for unauthorised abstraction.

He said that unregulated groundwater extraction could lead to serious environmental consequences, including land subsidence and groundwater contamination.

The commissioner said in 2020, the government offered a 75 per cent waiver on groundwater abstraction fees, but compliance was low.

This, he said, necessitated LASWARCO to now initiate enforcement actions against defaulters.

He said that letters were issued to non-compliant organisations with a 72-hour ultimatum to comply and penalties would be imposed on those who continued to operate without authorisation.(NAN)