Ondo Assembly passes N313 bn 2023 supplementary bill

The Ondo State House  of Assembly on Thursday passed the N313 billion 2023 Supplementary Bill.

The state governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu,  earlier submitted the bill to the House of Assembly, for upward review from N275 billion to N313 billion  to make more provisions for the government programmes.

The Chairman of the House’s Committee on  Finance and Appropriation, Hon. Olumide Ogunmolasuyi, said that the approved bill would accommodate  the excess fund realised from the removal of oil subsidy.

Ogunmolasuyi added that the passed bill would address some unforeseen occurrences and other social investment programmes of the Federal

Government aimed at cushioning the effect of the oil subsidy removal on the economy. 

According to him, the supplementary  proposal is aimed at clearing all domestic arears such as backlog of salaries, wages award, palliatives,

outstanding debts to contractor with a view to ameliorating the effect of the subsidy removal on the economy;

He explained that the supplementary proposal gave  expression to the vision of the state government  to bring about rapid development across state, saying that the supplementary budget was in line with the best practice in funds utilization and budget performance.

The Committee’s Chairman said that the supplementary proposal made provisions of over N163 billion for recurrent expenditure and over N149 billion for capital expenditure.

He said that the amendment had made necessary adjustments that were required to meet the urgent needs of the people of the state.

Ogunmolasuyi, who is also the Majority Leader, moved the motion for the Third Reading of the bill and for the bill to be passed for governor’s assent and it was seconded by Rt. Hon. Abayomi Akinruntan, the Deputy Speaker.

Speaking on the budgetary proposal, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt, Hon. Olamide Oladiji, said that it would improve welfare of the people and reduce the suffering of the people, thanking Mr Governor for presenting the bill and extended  the appreciation to all lawmakers of the assembly.

Oladiji tasked execute arms to ensure strict compliance to the amendment, adding that the assembly would continue to serve as watchdog to put the executive members  on their toes in moving the state forward.

Similarly, the House of Assembly approved the upward review  of over N3 billion 2023 OSOPADEC Appropriation Bill to be sent to state governor for assent.

The House’s Committee on OSOPADEC, Hon. Oluwatoyin Allen, Êse-Odo/ APC,  who submitted the committee’s report, said that the commission had actually ensured peace and tranquillity in the Niger Delta Region through the engagement of security outfits  for waterways surveillance  which had made the region one of the most peaceful in the Niger Delta Region

Allen explained that the review had given proposal that would engage Private Public Partnership (PPP) in ensuring the completion of some on-going projects and abandoned projects which would  transform the lives of the people in the mandate areas.

He asked the management of OSOPADEC not to rely solely on the 40 per cent of 13 per cent oil derivation fund but be more rigorous and creative in its collaboration with both local and international organizations/donors so as to meet the expectation of people  of the state especially the people of the mandate area.

Allen said that OSOPADEC  should be more rigorous in training and re-training of its staff for optimal performance to enhance higher productivity.

The OSOPADEC Chairman admonished the commission to ensure that the committee  members were carried along before and during the commencement of any capital project in order to be on the same page whenever any sensitive issues could arise.