TheNewsGuru

Tag: Ogun Assembly

  • Ogun Assembly workers shut gate to demand improved welfare

    Ogun Assembly workers shut gate to demand improved welfare

    Members of the Ogun chapter of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) shut the gates of the House of Assembly on Thursday to demand the implementation of Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS).

    Speaking with newsmen at Abeokuta, Mr Ayotunde Ojediran, the chapter chairman noted that it was important for the staff to register their displeasure with the state government.

    Ojediran said the shutting of the gates was to signal the beginning of a three-day warning strike over the failure of the state government to consider the association’s demands.

    He noted that the implementation of CONLESS would put staff of the assembly on the same pedestal as staff of the Judiciary who had been enjoying Consolidated Judicial Salary Structure (CONJESS).

    The implementation, he added, would also benefit staff of the House of Assembly Service Commission.

    Ojediran said government was also yet to comply with the provision of the State Assembly Service Commission Law, 2018 regarding the emoluments of principal officers.

    He noted that the non-compliance had resulted into the non-payment of due salaries and allowances to the three most senior officers in the assembly since their respective dates of appointment.

    “The union had earlier written to the state government stating all the demands and we issued a 21-day ultimatum to meet the demands but nothing was done till the ultimatum lapsed.

    “We are presently in negotiation with the state government but as we speak we are yet to reach any meaningful agreement.

    “If all these issues are not addressed, it will not be too good for the system. This is an institution, but unfortunately people are not enjoying what is due to them.

    “We are optimistic that before the expiration of the three-day warning strike, government will do the needful. I know we have a listening governor who is father to all.

    “If there is no positive response from the state government, we will call for an indefinite strike immediately,’’ he said.

    Efforts to get the reaction of the management of the assembly proved abortive.

    In a letter dated May 9, the national body of PASAN gave Gov. Dapo Abiodun until the end of May to address issues raised by its members in the Ogun State House of Assembly.

    The letter was signed by its National Secretary-General, Mr Awobifa Hammed.

    It demanded full compliance with the provisions of the Ogun State House of Assembly Service Commission Law, 2018 and Statutory Office (State Emolument) Amendment 2018.

    It noted that the governor ignored three earlier correspondences from its Ogun chapter on the issues “despite the legislative workers’ plea’’.

    It urged the governor to address its demands before May 31 or risk an industrial crisis in the state.

  • Ogun governor, Abiodun presents 2023 budget to state assembly

    Ogun governor, Abiodun presents 2023 budget to state assembly

    Ogun state governor, Dapo Abiodun today presented the state budget  to the Ogun State House of Assembly.

    The appropriation bill was on Thursday presented to the lawmakers in a session chaired by the speaker of the house, Olakunle Oluomo.

    The governor said that a total of N472.25 billion  has been proposed for the state government in the year 2023.

    He said the total sum of  N201.84 billion is proposed as recurrent expenditure, while N270.41 billion is budgeted as capital expenditure.

    The governor put personnel costs at N79.47 billion; social contribution and social benefits at N21.12 billion; public debt charge at N39.90 billion; overhead cost at N61.35 billion; while capital expenditure is N270.41billion.

    In his speech, Abiodun implored the leadership of the State House of Assembly to ensure that the budget be thoroughly, but expeditiously vetted and returned in earnest for his assent.

    He said that all the contents of the bill emanated from the wishes expressed by Ogun people at the different Budget Town Hall meetings earlier held.

    “I will appreciate, if we maintain our set standard of signing the Appropriation Law before 1st of January of the incoming year,” he pleaded.

  • Audit reports: Ogun Assembly decries financial infractions by state advertising agency

    Audit reports: Ogun Assembly decries financial infractions by state advertising agency

    Ogun Assembly Committee on Public Account and Anti-corruption, on Thursday, decried what it called high level financial infractions committed by the State Signage and Advertising Agency between 2015 and 2020.

    Newsmen reports that the Chairman of the committee, Mr Musefiu Lamidi, led other members to consider the audit report of the agency for 2020 financial year at the assembly complex in Abeokuta.

    Lamidi expressed the regret that the same infractions committed during the previous years were not addressed.

    The lawmaker noted that there were breaches of due process guidelines, spending beyond the approval limit, non-coding of fixed assets as well as unremitted expenditures, among others.

    He also identified other flaws that occurred in the agency’s accounts to include: revenue loss, absence of stores and store records, non- reconciliation of bank statements and failure to act and respond to previous audit reports.

    The attitude, according to him, constitutes flagrant disregard for due process.

    Lamidi, therefore, requested for immediate and frequent reconciliation of revenue cashbook and bank statements from 2015-2019, to stem revenue leakages.

    The committee chairman directed the former Head of Accounts of the agency, Mr Ahmed Ojuola, to re-appear before the committee, with relevant supporting documents.

    He listed the supporting documents to include: receipts and invoices for all transactions contained in the record books of the agency.

    Responding, the General Manager of the agency, Mr Fola Onifade, assured the committee that the organisation would ensure that all the issues raised were addressed by concerned officials.

    Onifade explained that the agency was not resting on its oars at improving on its revenue to the state.

  • Ogun Assembly orders Nollywood actor’s arrest for calling himself monarch

    Ogun Assembly orders Nollywood actor’s arrest for calling himself monarch

    The Ogun State House of Assembly has ordered security agencies to arrest a certain Nollywood star, Goriola Hassan, for allegedly parading himself as the Oba-elect of Imobi in the Ijebu-East Local Government Area of the state.

    The Speaker, Olakunle Oluomo, during plenary on Thursday ordered that Hassan should be arrested and presented to the Assembly within 14 days.

    The Assembly had in August threatened to issue a warrant of arrest on Goriola after he snubbed two previous invitations of the lawmakers over the allegations against him.

    Oluomo ordered his arrest following the presentation and adoption of the report of the House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

    The committee Chairman, Bolanle Ajayi, while reading the committee’s report, accused Goriola of converting a government building to private use.

    Ajayi also accused the Nollywood actor of defying the orders of constituted authority that asked him to stop parading himself as the Olu of Imobi.

    The committee affirmed that the Onitasin of Itasin remained the only king and prescribed authority in Imobi land.

    The committee recommended that the government building, which was the Government’s Community Dispensary House at Fotedo, Imobi, converted to private use by Goriola, be taken over by the community and he should be declared wanted and handed over to the security agencies.

     

  • BREAKING: Police recover stolen Ogun Assembly mace in Lagos

    BREAKING: Police recover stolen Ogun Assembly mace in Lagos

    The stolen mace at the Ogun State House of Assembly has been recovered in Lagos State, the police said on Friday.

    According to a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, Muyiwa Adejobi, the mace was recovered around the Abule Ado area of Lagos.

    “The police operatives attached to Trade Fair Station of the Lagos State Police Command today, Friday, December 11, 2020, recovered the missing mace of the Ogun State House of Assembly at Abule Ado Area of the state at about 8.30 am,” the statement read in part.

    The PUNCH had reported that burglars invaded the office of the Ogun State House of Assembly on Thursday and stole the symbol of authority.

    The burglars, suspected to be hoodlums, also damaged properties in the assembly.

    Adejobi said, “The police operatives, who were responsive, worked on intelligence from the members of the community that someone in a moving vehicle, suspected to be Toyota Siena Space Wagon, threw out an object into the nearby bush and recovered the object which was later identified to be the Ogun State House of Assembly Mace.

    “The mace had been allegedly stolen from the House of Assembly complex, Ogun State recently. It has been handed over to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, who later instructed the DCP State CID, Lagos State, Yetunde Longe, to protect the mace and liaise with the Ogun State Police Command on the return of the recovered mace to Ogun State.”

    The statement quoted Odumosu as promising to assist the Ogun State Police Command in the investigation into the incident that led to the recovery of the mace.

  • JUST IN: Hoodlums invade Ogun Assembly, cart away mace from Speaker’s office

    JUST IN: Hoodlums invade Ogun Assembly, cart away mace from Speaker’s office

    Information reaching TheNewsGuru.com, TNG has it that the Ogun State House of Assembly was on Thursday invaded by suspected hoodlums.

    According to reports, the suspected hoodlums attacked the office of the Speaker, Olakunle Oluomo, and carted away the assembly’s mace.

    It was gathered that the yet-to-be-identified hoodlums broke into the speaker’s office overnight and stole the official symbol of the legislature.

    Meanwhile security agents have since taken over the premises of the assembly building which is located a few metres away from the Governor’s Office complex in the precinct of the State Secretariat, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

    Confirming the development, spokesman for the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi said the coat of the arm has been recovered but the stick is still missing.

    The PPRO added that an investigation into the burglary and theft has commenced.

    Oyeyemi said, “Yes, there is an unfortunate incident today in the assembly complex. The hoodlums broke into the assembly through the ceiling and removed the official mace of the house. That is why the Commissioner of Police has to go there for an on-the-spot assessment.”

    Details later…

  • BREAKING: Ogun Assembly passes Amotekun bill

    BREAKING: Ogun Assembly passes Amotekun bill

    The Ogun House of Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill for a law to establish the Ogun State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps.

    The Majority Leader, Mr Yusuf Sherif, had presented the report of the Committee on Security and Strategy during plenary in Abeokuta.

    Sherif stated that the committee recommended that the bill be passed as approved by the Conference of Speakers of South West Legislature.

    The majority leader moved the motion for the adoption of the report and it was seconded by Musefiu Lamidi a member of the House.

    The motion was also supported by the whole House.

    Sherif thereafter moved the motion for the third reading of the bill and this was seconded by Sola Adams.

    The clerk of the house, Mr Deji Adeyemo, read the bill for the third time while the Speaker, Mr Olakunle Oluomo, ordered that a clean copy of the bill be forwarded to Gov. Dapo Abiodun for his assent.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lawmakers had during the second reading of the bill on Feb. 20 stated that the bill was to assist in maintaining law and order in the state.

    They posited that the Amotekun corps would be a community policing body that would complement the work of other security agencies in the state.

    The lawmaker stated that Amotekun would curb criminal activities such as kidnapping, robbery, cultism and terrorism.

  • Ogun Assembly acknowledges receipt of “Amotekun bill’’

    Ogun Assembly acknowledges receipt of “Amotekun bill’’

    The Ogun House of Assembly on Thursday acknowledged receipt of a bill for a law to establish Security Network Agency, code named “Amotekun Corps’’ from Gov. Dapo Abiodun.

    Mr Olakunle Oluomo, the Speaker of the House, read the governor’s letter during plenary in Abeokuta.

    Oluomo assured that the bill, which would assist security agencies in maintaining law and order, would receive accelerated passage from the lawmakers.

    He directed that the soft copy of the bill be uploaded to the State House of Assembly website for all to peruse through.

    The speaker said that the assembly would organise a stakeholders’ meeting to get opinions on the bill.

    He promised that the inputs of the stakeholders would not be taken for granted.

    Also during plenary, a bill for a law to make provision for the Ogun State Judiciary Funds Management and other matters was passed into law.

    Mr Solomon Osho, Chairman, House Committee on Justice, Ethics and Public Petitions, read the report of his committee on the bill before the House.

    Osho, thereafter, moved the motion for the adoption of the committee’s report and was seconded by Vice Chairman of the Committee, Akeem Balogun.

    Mr Yusuf Sherif, the Majority Leader, moved the motion for the third reading of the bill, seconded by Mr Sylvester Abiodun.

    The Acting Clerk, Mr Deji Adeyemo, thereafter, presented the bill for the third reading and was subsequently passed by the assembly.

    Oluomo thereafter, ordered that a clean copy of the bill be forwarded to the state governor for his assent.

  • Gov Abiodun presents N449.97bn budget estimate to Ogun Assembly

    Gov Abiodun presents N449.97bn budget estimate to Ogun Assembly

    Governor Dapo Abiodun on Tuesday presented N449.974 billion budget proposal to the Ogun State House of Assembly for deliberation and approval by the state lawmakers for 2020 fiscal year.

    Abiodun who christened the 2020 appropriation bill as “Budget to Build Our Future Together” said the annual fiscal estimate reflects his administration’s determination to deliver on its electoral promises.

    Giving the budget breakdown during the House plenary presided by Speaker Kunle Oluomo at the Assembly Complex, the Governor explained that N269.132Bn representing (60.31%) was proposed for capital projects, while N180.842Bn (39.69%) was set aside for recurrent expenditure.

    He added that N83.238Bn was earmarked for salaries and allowances of workers while pension and gratuities would take N25.94Bn representing 18% of total expenditure.

    According to him, the balance of N71.659Bn signifying a 16% of the total budget is estimated for overhead cost.

    Abiodun assured that the government would formulate policy thrust for the holistic actualization of the budget towards localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the public – private partnership initiatives.

    He said the administration had put in place a mechanism for a workable public financial management system to eliminate leakages and ensures efficient and judicious use of the State wealth.

    According to him, there would be full automation of the State Finance functions, strict adherence to the proposed fiscal responsibility law, instituting credit rating for the State by internationally accepted rating agencies and strengthening internal audit functions.

    He noted that there would also be timely publication of audited accounts of the state.

    Earlier in his address, Speaker Kunle Oluomo, lauded Governor Dapo Abiodun for what he described as “the great strides made and solid foundations laid in all sectors” by him in the last seven months despite the avalanche of “booby traps” set for his administration.

    Oluomo added that a catalogue of litigations were also raised against Dapo Abiodun and his loyalists; ostensibly to distract him from “governance.”

    Although the Speaker did not mention any name but it is suspected by many that the alleged booby traps were set for Abiodun by his predecessor even as Oluomo noted that the impressive performance of the Governor was not surprising, recalling that at the inception of the administration, he reeled out his masses oriented governance.

    Oluomo said: “Despite the booby traps set for you and the catalogue of litigations raised against you and your loyalists to distract you from governance, the great strides made and solid foundations laid in all sectors within the last few months is a pointer to the growth and development that the people of Ogun State will witness under your administration.

    “It is therefore ridiculous and un-state-manly for any fifth columnist to state that that the impact of this government has not been felt.

    “However, today, in the history of the current administration, a giant stride is being made as the First Annual Budget of this administration on the vision to build a qualitative and focused govetnment is being presented to the Ninth Legislature of our dear State.”

    According to him, citizens and residents of the Gateway State, were all waiting patiently for him to turn their dream for a prosperous Ogun State into reality.

    In his closing remarks, Oluomo, assured of continuous and robust relationship between the legislature and other arms of government through the enactment of more people oriented legislations.

    Assembly would keep to its age-long tradition by giving necessary attention to the budget proposal within the time frame, while facilitating the provision of more infrastructural facilities towards adding value to the standard of living of the people.

    The Speaker stressed that the occasion was a testimony that the present administration prioritized the welfare and economic independence of the people, who deserved an innovative leadership in government, fearless judiciary, vibrant and articulate legislature, promising that the State would not rest on her oars.

  • Oluomo emerges Speaker of Ogun 9th Assembly

    Oluomo emerges Speaker of Ogun 9th Assembly

    Mr Olakunle Oluomo (APC-Ifo-1), the immediate past deputy speaker of Ogun House of Assembly was on Monday elected as the Speaker of the 9th Assembly.

    Oluomo was elected after his nomination by Mr Olakunle Sobukola (APC -Ikenne) and seconded by Mr Adegoke Adeyanju (ADC-Yewa North 1) shortly after the inauguration of the 9th Assembly.

    In his acceptance speech, Oluomo, who appreciated God for the new position, promised to promote unity among the legislature, executive and the judiciary.

    He assured that he would work together with his colleagues to ensure the growth and progress of the state.

    Oluomo promised to cooperate with Gov. Dapo Abiodun to bring more dividends of democracy to the grassroots.

    “The 9th legislature will not do anything that will be detrimental to the progress of the state.

    “We will initiate and pass bills that will enhance the socio-economic development of the stat,’’ he said.

    Mr Oludare Kadiri (APC-Ijebu North 1) was also elected unopposed as the Deputy Speaker of the House.

    The speaker who thereafter swore-in other members of the 9th Assembly, called for a short recess, adding that the House would reconvene to announce names of other principal officers.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 9th Assembly is made up of 15 APC members, seven APM members, three ADC members and one PDP member.

    Dignitaries at the inauguration included -former Speakers, Muyiwa Oladipo, Titi Oseni-Gomez and Suraj Adekunbi, Sen. Iyabo Anisulowo, political party chieftains and traditional rulers.