The governor of Lagos State Akinwunmi Ambode, on Wednesday said the N500bn naira bond approved by the Lagos state house of assembly will last for five years not just 2016 alone.he also  explained that since 2007, Lagos had had two bond issuance programs, adding that the one approved by the Assembly earlier in the week was the third.

He said for 2016, the state could only draw N60bn from the pool of the approved N500bn, adding that the state would draw from the fund for subsequent years as approved by the House.

He said, “Before you can appropriate it in your budget, you need that program and the program was what was approved by the House. What is in the Appropriation Law for 2016 is N60bn. So, it is from the N500bn program that we are pulling out the N60bn.

“For next year’s budget, if the House approves, for instance, N80bn as bond, we don’t need to go back to the House again after they have approved the budget; you just draw from the N500bn approved program and take the amount which is approved for the 2017 budget.

“If they approve any amount for the 2018 budget, you take that from the pool of N500bn, which can take the next five to 10 years. It is just a lump. It is not as if the state wants to take another N500bn; it is a requirement by the Securities and Exchange Commission.”The governor also assured Lagos residents that the N60bn bond approved for 2016 would be used to accelerate the infrastructural development ongoing in the state.He said, “The fund will be channelled towards the completion of the Ajah Flyover, Abule Egba Flyover, Pen Cinema Flyover, as well as the construction of more lay-bys and bus parks. We will also improve health facilities and build more public schools, among other projects.”He added that the financial arrangement of the state was such that the bond programme would be easily repayable from the Internally Generated Revenue.The Assembly had on Tuesday approved N500bn bond, which the government said was necessary for the development of the state.