The Lagos State Government has commenced consultations with residents across its five divisions as part of the process of preparing the state’s 2027 budget.

The exercise kicked off with a town hall meeting for the Ikeja Division at the Multipurpose Hall of Radio Lagos in Agidingbi, Ikeja, where residents and community leaders outlined their priorities and reviewed the government’s response to demands raised during the previous consultation.

The Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Ope George, said the annual engagement was designed to give residents a direct channel to influence government spending priorities and communicate their needs.

George made this known during the Ikeja forum, according to a post published on the state government’s Facebook page on Wednesday.

He said the consultations were held annually across the state’s divisions to ensure residents had an opportunity to identify areas they wanted the government to address in the coming fiscal year.

“Every year, we go around our IBILE Divisions to listen to our citizens and hear what they want to see in their upcoming budget,” the commissioner said.

George explained that the exercise also serves as an accountability platform, allowing the government to return to communities and provide updates on requests submitted during the previous year’s consultations.

According to him, the government presented residents with an account of the projects and interventions implemented in response to their earlier demands before receiving fresh priorities for the 2027 budget.

“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 consultations are expected to continue across the remaining divisions as the state works towards finalising its priorities for the 2027 fiscal year.