Budget defence: Journalists barred from covering Osun’s revenue agencies

Journalists were, on Monday, barred by the Osun state House of Assembly from the coverage of the defence of the 2017 budget by the executive.

It was learnt that the journalists had stormed the assembly following announcement that some revenue-generating agencies in the state would be defending their budget between Monday and Friday.

It was also expected to draw a road map for the implementation of the budget but were denied entrance into the venue of the talk without any explanation.

But on getting to the Assembly, only the state-owned media house, the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC), was allowed to cover the proceeding.

It was gathered that journalists were barred to prevent the suspected leakage of information on the lawmakers’ confrontation with the executive.

Reacting to the development, the Chairman, House Committee on Information and Strategy, Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, said the session was held to allow government officials brief the assembly properly on how to ensure effective implementation of the budget.

He said if the media was present, the government officials in charge of revenue generation might not be able to give appropriate information on revenue drive.
He said there was no rancour between the executive and the legislature on the budget.