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Ondo governor signs revised 2009 appropriation bill into law

By Babs Odukoya
24 December 2009   |   7:10 am
By Niyi Bello, Akure ONDO State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, yesterday, signed into law, the revised 2009 budgetary proposal in a last ditch attempt to thaw the icy relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government in the state's fiscal management. Two weeks ago, a N27 billion supplementary appropriation bill sent by the Labour Party (LP) governor to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-controlled assembly, was rejected by the lawmakers who insisted on doing the appraisal of the N85 billion budgeted for the former administration of Dr. Olusegun Agagu before the new fiscal proposal could be accepted. The lawmakers also requested that the document should be properly worked out because of alleged inconsistencies in the quoted figures while referring it to the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation for scrutiny.

The governor however, responded by sending a revised version of the Agagu budget, which had been incorporated with the new financial realities of the new administration especially as in the decline in expected revenue from Federal sources.

The new bill was said to have been brought to the assembly after a meeting of the state commissioner for budget and planning, Mr. Akin Adaramola and the committee to correct the anomalies noted in the supplementary budget.

Chairman of the appropriation committee, Samuel Adesina, said after a thorough consideration of the bill, the committee recommended that the revised budget of N85.113 billion be passed by the entire members.

However, while some members spoke in support of the passage of the bill, some said the bill was not necessary as every budget should have a time frame.

According to Thompson Atikase, member representing Ilaje II, the Nigerian constitution did not provide for revised budget as the only ones known to the constitution were the main budget and supplementary budget.

He also said there was the need for the house to ascertain the state of account of the state, saying that was the only way to have a workable budget.

Atikase also challenged the chairman of the appropriation committee on how it arrived at the N10 billion that was allocated to the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC).

He said: “I felt there was no need to pass the budget because things must be done within a time frame. The governor should have immediately upon his assumption of office come up with a revised budget instead of coming one week before the end of the year”.

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