Why we passed revised 2016 budget – Ekiti Assembly

The Deputy Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr Segun Adewumi, on Monday said the passage of the revised 2016 budget was aimed at accelerating the development of the state.

Adewumi made the clarification in Ado-Ekiti while commenting on the budget earlier presented to the assembly by Gov. Ayodele Fayose.

Fayose had sought for the lawmakers’ approval to review the initial budget of N67 billion presented to them in December, 2015 to N70.5 billion.

The deputy speaker said that the assembly had agreed with the explanations offered by the governor for upward review of the budget for the purpose of accelerating even development across the state.

According to him, this becomes necessary in view of the emerging developmental projects that needed to be accommodated in the revised budget to meet their completion target.

Adewumi, however, dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the cooperation of both arms of government on the issue of budget review and other matters were self-serving.

He said, “It is the constitutional duty of the lawmakers to make laws for the good governance of the state from time to time, including those that are of immense benefits to the general public.

“This is exactly what we have done, and we owe nobody any apology for living up to the dictate of our constitutional duty.

“People in the opposition can say whatever they like about the harmonious relationship that exists between the current crop of lawmakers and the executive.

“We are not bothered about them as long as we are convinced that what we are doing is in tandem with the expectations of our constituents,’’ he said.

The upward review of the supplementary budget was unanimously approved by the lawmakers last week.

It also reports that constitutionally, the state assembly has power to approve such projects before the governor can execute them.