Benin, Edo, Nigeria – By Oladipo Airenakho.
Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has signed the State’s 2015 Appropriation Bill of N159.3 billion into law.
An increment of about N3 billion has now however been added to the N156.551 billion Appropriation Bill earlier presented to the House by the Governor.
Immediately after giving his assent to the Bill, Governor Oshiomhole explained that “the Executive branch had proposed N156 billion estimates while the House in its wisdom decided to increase the budget to N159.3 billion.”
“There is a lot we can do and we want to do in the area of infrastructure and other capital projects that we will like to execute and there is no question that there is space for us to accommodate more projects.
He said however that in making “our budget, we have taken into account, not just our wishes but the means we think will be available; receipts from the federation accounts and our own projected Internally Generated Revenue and other possible sources of funding.”
“I have signed this into Law confident that we can do and we will have to do everything possible to ensure that the laudable objectives as captured by the budget are realised”.
The Governor continued, “I want to reassure you, Mr. Speaker that in line with our tradition, we will sustain the tradition of spending prudently, of costing our projects and ensuring that we will sustain the tradition of blocking leakages in governance as well as aggressively pursuing revenue drive so that we can find the resources to deliver on the promise of this budget.”
He hoped that the Federal Government’s current efforts with regards to improving security on oil installations, would lead to reduction if not putting an end to the incidence of crude oil theft, adding “once we can attain that, then all the oil revenue accruing to the state will become available for distribution from the federation account.”
“I want to use this opportunity to say that having signed this budget in to law, there is no any other evidence about the fact that Edo State is working and the various arms of government are functioning optimally”, he added.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole in his usual boisterousness did not fail to remind his audience of the consequence of being absent from work in veiled reference to the PDP caucus of the House sitting separately at the Assembly Complex at King’s Square.
He told his audience that in a democracy and under our labour laws, any one including elected persons, in the executive, legislature or judiciary can decide to come to or be absent from work because there is no forced labour provided that” he who doesn’t work appreciates the full consequences of his actions.”
The Governor said, “The fact of the continued absence from legislative duties on the part of some of your members cannot possibly invalidate proceedings of the House particularly when the House forms a generous quorum”.
Governor Oshiomhole did not fail to also condemn some sections of the electronic media for distorting the true situation in the Edo State House of Assembly, saying “these electronic media chose to report the activities of individuals as if we have two parliaments in Edo State.”
“For me, it is most laughable and the fact that we have now signed into law the bill signed by the House of Assembly, I hope it settles this. I want to appeal to those who own electric media not to put them to wrong use,”
