By Josephine Oguntoyinbo

The Ondo State House of Assembly conducted the 2024 budget defense exercise for the Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC) today.

During the exercise, the management of OSOPADEC appeared before the joint House Committees on OSOPADEC and Finance and Appropriation to defend the 16.5 billion naira budget for the fiscal year.

The team from the State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget was also in attendance.

It would be recalled that the House, during a plenary session last week, committed the budget to the committees for proper scrutiny.

The Speaker, Chief Olamide Oladiji, directed them to submit their report to the House within two weeks.

The budget of N16,589,793,823.64 allocates ₦3,249,906,749.54 for recurrent expenditure and ₦13,339,889,074.50 for capital expenditure for the year 2024.

In his remarks, the Majority Leader of the House, who is also the Chairman of the Finance and Appropriation Committee, Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, emphasized the importance of the budget, stating that without it, no agency or ministry could survive.

Ogunmolasuyi said that the exercise, backed by constitutional provisions, involved public funds that must be accounted for, adding that the appropriation bill had made provisions for the mandate areas.

According to him, things are not going well in the area despite the government’s efforts, adding that the best is not yet enough for the people of the area.

Declaring the defense open, the Chairman of the OSOPADEC Committee, Primate Oluwatoyin Allen, implored members of both committees to be diligent and meticulous in their task so that appropriate provisions would be looked into for the betterment of the people of the area.

Allen said that the oil-producing area faced challenges that needed urgent and adequate provisions from the government to find solutions.

He explained that the sea incursion affecting some communities must be adequately addressed with the provisions of the planned budget.

Hon. Allen appealed to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to continue supporting the budget’s implementation.

Pastor Stephen Aworere, representing the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, commended the members of the two committees for their usual support, adding that the bill, if approved, would improve the lives of people in the areas and tackle the environmental challenges they face.

He said that the Ministry had reviewed the bill and provided the required technical guidance, noting that OSOPADEC should be given all the support it needs at the moment because of the ravaging sea incursion.

He said that any support given to the commission would provide relief to people suffering from environmental challenges.

Responding, the Chairman of OSOPADEC, Mr. Sam Erejuwa, described the Commission as a mini-government responsible for addressing the needs of two local governments.

Erejuwa said that the areas supervised by the commission were in direct need of the Assembly’s support.

“We are truly an interventionist agency just waiting for the approval of the House. We are mindful of the needs of our people as a commission, and our objective is primarily to transform lives and tackle environmental challenges in the mandate areas,” he said.

He said that the Commission prepared the bill with accountability and transparency in mind, in line with the State government’s mandate and its vision.

“We have been careful in allocating these very limited resources. As you can see, we have a serious budget before us with less than 20 percent for recurrent expenditure and 80 percent for capital expenditure. That truly shows that we are a very interventionist agency.

“Once we get the approval of the House, we are ready to work. We are mindful of the needs of our people. That’s why stakeholders’ meetings were conducted to understand their needs.

“I think that the immediate plans of the project are covered by this 80 percent. We have a serious mandate to transform lives and tackle environmental challenges with scarce resources,” he said.