Edo Assembly Receives 2024 Revised Budget, confirms one of the commissioner – nominees sent by Gov. Okpebholo
On resumption to plenary, Edo State House of Assembly received a letter dated 13th of November, 2024, wherein Senator Monday Okpebholo, Governor of Edo State requested the Edo state house of assembly to as a matter of urgency, pass into law the supplementary budget 2024 to enable his administration take off to commence the allocation of resources for the development of the people of Edo State.
The letter also solicited the cooperation of the House to consider the nomination of two commissioners designate which includes the Attorney General of the state and Commissioner of Justice, and Commissioner for Health respectively, Edo State in the persons of Rt. Hon. Samson Raphael Osagie P.hd and Dr. Cyril Adams Oshiomhole.
After listening to the submission of the majority leader of the House and member representing Ovia North East 1 constituency, Hon. Charity Aiguobarueghian who acknowledged the fact that apart from the nobility of the profession and the urgency it requires for the new administration to hit the ground running, Dr Osagie being a former two-time member of the State Assembly and a former minority whip of the Federal House of Representatives should be cleared.
Speaker, Rt. Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, having the consent of his colleagues, asked Dr. Osagie to take a bow as part of parliamentary privileges to him while that of Dr. Cyril Oshiomhole was moved to a later date.
On the proposed revised supplementary budget 2024, again Rt. Hon Blessing referred the matter to the committee on appropriation to report back to the House in one week.
Under matters of public urgent importance, the member representing Etsako East constituency, Hon. Kingsley Ugabi, drew the attention of the house to the state of insecurity in his constituency, which bothers on kidnapping for ransom, organ harvesting, wanton killing of persons and destruction of properties that has engulfed the area in recent times.
Hon. Ugabi noted that the killing of a youth for suspected organ harvesting sparked outrage and led to the burning of a police station in Agenebode.
In his recommendation, Hon. Ugabi urged the Edo State government and relevant security agencies to take urgent steps to address the rising threats of killings and kidnappings in Edo State, particularly in the Etsako East Local Government Area. He referenced Section 14, Subsection 1(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which assigns the government the primary responsibility to ensure the security and welfare of its citizens.
Additionally, Hon. Ugabi called for compensation for the families of the victims who lost their lives and for the payment of medical expenses for those who have been hospitalized due to the violence.
He further emphasized that provisions and considerations should be made for the rebuilding of the police station, highlighting the importance of ensuring that the police have the necessary infrastructure to perform their duties effectively and efficiently in addressing the rising security challenges.
After much deliberations in the House, the Speaker directed the Clerk to send clean copies of the resolution to the Governor for urgent action.
The House sitting was thereafter adjourned to Monday 18th, November 2024.
