Ogun residents’ approve governor’s borrowing plan

The Ogun State governor’s development plans gets a boost at a public hearing.

Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun’s quest to raise loans to finance various developmental projects in the state received stakeholders’ unanimous support on Thursday.

At a public hearing, which took place at the State House of Assembly Complex in Abeokuta, all the attendees endorsed the Executive Bill seeking to empower the state government’s quest to raise loans.

In attendance at the hearing on the bill were council members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN); members of the State Chamber of Commerce and Industry; members of political parties, and other financial experts.

At the hearing on the Bill, Bankole Akanbi, the chairman of the State House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, who also chaired the hearing, suggested that some parts of the bill be adjusted in order to reserve the legislature’s constitutional power.

Buttressing the point, the attendees noted that amending the said irregularities would guarantee recourse to the lawmakers and permanently ensure that checks and balances are implemented whenever the State Executive decides to raise loans.

Abayomi Bammeke, an ICAN member, who spoke at the forum, described the bill as a good document and financial instrument for the state. Mr. Bammeke, while disabusing public minds over any fear, however, stressed that the law had already stipulated that, to ensure checks and balance, the State House of Assembly must legislate before any state governor could access bonds.

In a similar vein, the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) as well as the Islamic Youths League cautioned the Assembly to ensure that the passage of the bill does not become a burden to another administration.

Also reacting to the issue, Secretary of the state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dapo Adeyemi, commended the lawmakers for organising the public hearing. He challenged the representatives to ensure that Ogun indigenes become aware of the state’s original debt profile. Adeyemi said that the people must be informed of what the state intends to use the loan for, “whether bond or treasury bill.”

The lawmakers gave the assurance that they would study and implement the stakeholders’ memoranda that was submitted at the hearing.