News
Edo Assembly approves N409.2 billion supplementary budget for Obaseki
Barely five months after assenting to the 2024 appropriation bill by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, the State House of Assembly has shored up the budget to N409, 217,894,248,87 billion.
The governor had on December 22, 2023, assented to N342.825,969,909,21 billion appropriation bill, which was N17.5 billion higher than the N321.4 billion earlier presented to the House.
The raising of the budget to N409.2 billion was sequel to the House’s consideration and approval of the Governor Obaseki’s letter requesting a revision of the 2024 budget.
The lawmakers, while speaking in favour of the revised/supplementary budget, noted that it would enable the governor to finish his eight-year administration of the state well.
Moving the motion, Charity Aiguobarueghian, the Majority Leader of the House, noted that the supplementary budget was necessary for the state government to get legislative backing for the implementation of the N70,000 new minimum wage approval for the state’s workers recently.
Charity, also opined that it would also allow the governor to complete all the ongoing projects awarded.
Other lawmakers that spoke in favour of the supplementary budget include, Maria Edeko (PDP), the deputy speaker, Eric Okaka, (APC), the minority leader of the House, Eigbiremonlen Fada Sunday, (PDP), Esan Central and Ugabi Kingsley Oghenakhogie (APC), Etsako East constituencies.
They all noted that, if approved, the revised supplementary budget would give the government the financial enablement to complete all ongoing projects and thereby eliminate cases of abandoned projects.
The House, at the committee of the whole, however, shored up the 2024 fiscal year budget to N409.2 billion, an increase of N66.4 billion.
In the new supplementary budget, recurrent expenditure is now N182, 446,255,325, 16 billion, while capital expenditure stood at N226, 771, 634, 923, 71billion as against the earlier assented budget of N154, 276,225,868,96 billion and N188,549,744,040,26 billion, respectively.
The Speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku, who summed up the deliberation, said a clean copy of the approval will be sent to the state governor for his assent.
According to him, such financial mishandling not only disrupts critical public services and projects but also results in major losses to the nation’s purse—resources that could have been channelled into crucial services and developmental efforts, as laid out in Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution.
Speaker Abbas, thereafter setup a Special Committee to be chaired by Rep. Chinedu Martins to immediately launch a probe into the “Utilisation of take-off grants, bailout funds, and interventions allocated to MDAs, government institutions, and GOEs from 2015 to present.”
The FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, expressed satisfaction with the progress on the Abuja light rail project, reaffirming its May 29 delivery as sacrosanct.
He made these assurances after inspecting the ongoing construction of access roads to the train stations on Wednesday, from Metro Train Station in the Central Area to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Reassuring journalists accompanying him, the minister reiterated that President Bola Tinubu would commission the rail project on May 29 to mark his second year in office.
The visited stations were Wupa station near Idu and Bassanjiwa station near the airport.
“This is part of our routine inspection of ongoing projects to see the contractors’ progress,” Wike explained.
“We are working day and night to fulfill our promise to President Tinubu and FCT residents. By May, Mr. President will ride on the Metro line.”
Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen are currently invading some communities in the Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.
According to sources, the herdsmen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed the community around 04:15pm on Thursday.
“Our lives are in danger this evening, armed Fulani herdsmen, about 600 in numbers have taken over our communities this evening,” a resident told SaharaReporters.
“They’re currently moving around towns in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue state. No security personnel at all, Governor Alia didn’t send security, they said operation will start soon once they (herders) have observed the place.”
The insecurity situation in Benue has been alarming in recent weeks with attacks from gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
The media had reported that suspected herdsmen again unleashed terror in Benue State, attacking three communities in Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) on Wednesday, just a day after 11 people were killed in a deadly raid on Otobi community.
The latest victims of the escalating violence were Emichi, Odudaje, and Okpamaju, communities that had previously suffered an attack in February, which left five people dead.
However, the renewed attack has created fear and mass displacement among residents, with women and children fleeing to safety.
Local sources say the death toll from the fresh attack remains unclear, but several casualties are feared.
-
News12 hours agoBREAKING: Unknown gunmen reportedly storm Senator Natasha’s family residence
-
News14 hours agoSnub story on removal of Rivers Sole Administrator, it’s FAKE-Chief Registrar
-
News20 hours agoFG expresses sympathy for CBEX victims, urges a united effort to combat Ponzi schemes
-
News20 hours ago“How my father escaped assassination” – Bishop Oyedepo’s daughter
-
News13 hours agoSAD! Again, Alleged Herdsmen Attack Three Benue Communities
-
News6 hours agoAbuja light rail project must be commissioned on May 29-Wike vows
-
Politics14 hours agoPDP govs are jokers, can’t stop coalition train, Atiku boasts
-
News11 hours agoLawmaker Slams NBA Over Rivers Crisis, Demands Return of N300m