Osun Assembly passes N179.2bn Appropriation Bill

The Osun State House of Assembly, Wednesday, passed the 2018 Appropriation bill of N179.2 billion. The passage of the budget followed a motion moved by the leader of the house, Mr. Timothy Owoeye and seconded by the Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Mr. Kamil Oyedele at the plenary in Osogbo.

The budget, as approved, has N92.6 billion as capital expenditure, which represents 51.1 percent and N86.6 billion as recurrent expenditure, which represents 48.9 percent. Governor Rauf Aregbesola had on December 28, 2017, presented a budget of N173.9 billion to the assembly.

Explaining the reason for the delay in the passage of the budget, Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Najeem Salaam said the lawmakers were being careful to present a budget that would be acceptable to the state. Salaam urged the state governor to release the approved budget to Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government immediately funds are available. He said this would allow the MDAs to function effectively.

Speaking with newsmen after the passage, the Chairman, House Committee on Information and Strategy, Mr. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, said: “It is a budget of hope with capital expenditure higher than the recurrent expenditure. “With the sectoral allocation, I believe it is a budget for the common man, which is promising and achievable if all hands will be on deck.”