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The Lagos State Government has begun consultations with residents across the state’s five divisions as it prepares the 2027 budget.
The exercise opened with the Ikeja Division forum at the Multipurpose Hall, Radio Lagos in Agidingbi, Ikeja, where residents and community leaders outlined their priorities and reviewed the government’s response to requests raised during the previous consultation.
According to a post by the state government on Wednesday, the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Ope George, said the annual consultations were designed to give residents a direct opportunity to shape government priorities and communicate their needs.
George said the government visits the five IBILE divisions each year to hear from residents about what they want reflected in the upcoming budget.
He explained that the consultations also provide an opportunity for the government to give residents feedback on requests made during the previous year’s engagement.
The commissioner said the government had presented an account of what residents requested during the previous consultation and outlined the actions taken in response.
He added that residents had subsequently presented their priorities and requests for consideration in the 2027 budget.
“Every year, we go around our IBILE Divisions to listen to our citizens and hear what they want to see in their upcoming budget,” George said.
“This year, we’ve come in; we’ve given an account of what they asked us for last year. And we’ve shown them what we’ve done. And they’ve given us what they want for the new budget going on,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Olayinka Ojo, said the consultative forum had evolved beyond simply receiving requests from residents to becoming a platform for feedback and accountability.
She said the views, requests and priorities raised by residents during the consultations were documented, reviewed and forwarded to the relevant institutions, with prioritised and approved requests translated into government interventions.
Ojo also highlighted the role of community leaders in deepening grassroots engagement, particularly through Community Development Committees and Community Development Associations across the state’s 57 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas.
At the forum, the Commissioner also gave an update on Lagos State’s 2026 fiscal performance, saying the state had consistently recorded budget performance of at least 80 per cent in recent years.
He said the latest assessment showed that the state was recording between 79 and 80 per cent budget performance for the 2026 fiscal year.
George said Lagos had also maintained strong performance in its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which typically reaches between 85 and 90 per cent within the year.
He disclosed that the state had recorded about 80 per cent IGR performance as of the latest half-year assessment.
On the state’s Gross Domestic Product, George said Lagos’ real GDP was currently estimated at ₦16.2 trillion. He added that the state tracks both nominal and real GDP.
