Aregbesola seeks assembly's nod for N1.5bn housing loan
Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun has sought for the approval of the State House of Assembly to access N1.5 billion housing development loan offered by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.
This is contained in a letter written by the governor to the assembly, which was read at the plenary in Osogbo on Thursday, by the Speaker of the House, Mr Najeem Salaam.
In the letter, the governor said if the loan was approved, it would be used to build 342 housing units by the State Property Development Corporation.
He said the houses would be sold to the contributors to the National Housing Fund in the state public service.
The Governor said his administration had deemed it worthwhile to accept the loan offer because of its benefits.
He stated that building the houses was part of efforts at realizing the objectives of the Urban Renewal Programme of his administration.
The letter read in part 'The FMBN offered the state in principle, loan facilities of N1.5 billion on April 8, 2011, the opportunity which the last administration missed in May, 2010.
'OSPDC has been directed to access the loan, as all requirements have been met towards gaining access to the loan facility, except forwarding the loan application to the State House of Assembly for ratification.
'This administration has deemed it worthwhile to accept the offer taking cognizance of the numerous advantages deliverable from it, if adequately administered.
'The physical growth and development of our urban centres which is a clear testimony of the Urban Renewal Programme this administration is intending to achieve can become realizable.
'Land affordability, job creation, our doggedness towards revenue generation, among other things, are consequences of this venture.
'This is a rare opportunity that should be embraced with open hands by a state that has not experienced such.'
The letter also indicated that Ajaka Estate, Ilesa; Moremi Estate, Ile-Ife; Owamiran Estate, Esa-Oke; Olufi Estate, Gbongan; Akoda Estate, Ede; Oluwo Estate, Iwo; Okinni Estate, Okinni; Okuku Estate, Okuku, and Agunbe Estate, Ikirun, would benefit from this physical development through the loan facility.
During the plenary, the bill on the creation of additional 27 local government development areas in the state scaled through the second reading.
NAN recalls that Gov. Aregbesola had on Dec. 16, presented a bill for the creation of 27 additional local government development areas to the House and if approved, will raise the number of areas to 57
In his remarks, the speaker said it was high time the state created new councils, as some of the local government areas were too large.
He, however, urged the people of the state and traditional rulers, to be patient and allow the assembly to follow due processes, with a view to ensuring justice in handling the bill.
'I can assure the people that we will be thorough in the consideration of the bill and also ensure justice and fair play.
'There are several petitions and complaints before this House on this issue, as all cities want headquarters. We will look at all the complaints to arrive at a fair conclusion,' he promised. NAN