Fayose presents budget to seven PDP lawmakers 19 APC Assemblymen protest ‘illegality’ Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose presented yesterday the appropriation bill for the 2015 fiscal year to seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers in the House of Assembly. Fayose said “nobody can remove factional speaker Dele Olugbemi from office”. The 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers were absent at the brief ceremony, which was witnessed by senior government officials and a handful of traditional rulers. All the lawmakers’ chairs were occupied as visitors were allowed to sit in the chambers. There was massive security build-up around the Assembly complex, with soldiers, policemen, operatives of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) standing a guard. Only the press crew of the Governor’s Office and the press unit of the House of Assembly were allowed to cover the proceedings. Journalists from the electronic media were not allowed to record the proceedings. They interviewed the governor as he was heading towards his car parked in front of the main door of the complex. The N80.774 billion budget was tagged: “Budget of Reality”. According to the budget estimate, N48.7 billion was earmarked for recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure N31.9 billion. Contrary to his earlier position not to borrow, the governor said the state would access N5 billion internal loans to meet up with some commitments. Fayose affirmed his support for Olugbemi’s “leadership” of the Assembly, maintaining that the “factional speaker” would remain in office till June. “You (Olugbemi) are the speaker of this Assembly. I repeat, you are the speaker of this Assembly and nobody can remove you from this position. I want to emphasise that this speaker will remain there till June. Any attempt to overrun this state will be resisted by our people.” The governor said the size of the bill was informed by his administration’s desire to live within its means and go with an achievable estimate rather than “decorate the budget with unrealistic figures”. He said the budget would be funded by revenue from the Federation Account, Internally Generated Revenue and other sources. During an interview with reporters after the presentation, Fayose justified the proposed loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), describing the situation as a “different scenario”. “This is a different scenario. Taking loans from CBN is for all states and it is for the less privileged and market women who cannot access loans in banks. “There is a repayment process. The government must stand as guarantor. And the fact that I said we would not borrow should not be misinterpreted. If you borrow you must pay within your tenure so that you do not involve in financial recklessness for people coming after you.”
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 10:21:58 +0000