WHY DANIEL HAS NOT ASSENTED TO APPROPRIATION BILL –COMMISSIONER

The Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Sina Kawonise, has said the State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has not assented to the 2010 appropriation bill passed by the state House of Assembly on March 24 because the executive arm of government was trying to 'iron out some grey areas' in the financial document.

Some stakeholders have raised concern over the refusal of the governor to sign the bill.

Speaking with our correspondent in Abeokuta on Wednesday, Kawonise explained that the Assembly, in passing the bill, overlooked some areas, aside the bond issue, which might ground the day-to-day activities of the government if not addressed urgently.

He described those grey areas as 'some issues which the executive arm of government has with the passed budget,' saying consultations were ongoing to resolve the 'areas of disagreement' between the two arms of government.

The commissioner said, 'It is not that the governor has deliberately refused to sign the budget. Remember that immediately the bill was passed, the lawmakers were expected to hold a parliamentary caucus meeting with the governor. Unfortunately, that meeting could not hold and members of the House have been on working recess since then.'

'Most importantly, there are some grey
areas in the budget that we need to iron out. Remember, the House completely

removed the provision for miscellaneous from the budget; it was zero. If you

remember, three weeks ago, the governor hosted the South West leaders and

governors in Abeokuta here. Two weeks ago, there was a communal crisis in Ado

Odo area. These are some of the issues expected to be taken care under the

miscellaneous expenses. There are some other areas, which the Assembly

overlooked, which we intend to sort out.'
Kawonise aligned with the lawmakers that
certain information, which the House needed were not supplied, saying the Assembly

did not deliberately remove the allocations so far identified but were not

sufficiently informed on what those allocations were meant to serve.

'It was not that the lawmakers removed the
allocation because such allocations were not useful but some details were not

supplied. Having supplied the details, the House is better informed and those

areas will be sorted out by the time the parliamentary caucus is held between

the governor and the House members,' the commissioner said.

Kawonise, which expressed optimism that the
Assembly would grant the request of the executive arm of government to raise

N50bn through the issuance of bond, added that the Assembly had directed that

the 'grey areas' be accommodated in a supplementary budget.