Lagos Assembly insists Ambode must come for presentation of 2019 Budget

The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Thursday, insisted that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode must appear and lay the 2019 budget of the state before it as required by the law. The House resolution followed the letter read on the floor of the House by the Clerk, Mr. Azeez Sanni, informing the lawmakers that his office received a message from Governor Akinwunmi Ambode containing the State budget dated Monday, 17 December, 2018, but was received on Friday, 28th December. After listening to his colleagues’ contributions and debates, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, commended the lawmakers for their reaction to the message, stating that this was not the time for resentment, acrimony and agitation. He added that the stake before the lawmakers was beyond 2019. “We must do everything to sustain our government, party and the state. You have all shed light on the issue in a matured manner. “We went on break on 18th December, 2018. The first call I received on the budget was on 24th December that the Governor was willing to present the budget on that day. “We normally go on break for six weeks, but we went on break for two weeks as we were waiting for the budget. “Also, we received the budget on 28th December, when we were waiting for the New Year break. “There is no reason to shift the blame on the House that we were not willing to receive the budget,” the Speaker stated. The number one lawmaker maintained that the lawmakers were willing to receive the 2019 budget, saying that was part of the reasons they were elected into office. He, however, insisted that the budget presentation must be done properly by the Governor in accordance with the Section 121 of the Nigerian Constitution that provided that the budget must be presented to the House before the end of a financial year. “We are ready to receive the budget if it is done properly. We have no resentment, we have no bad blood. “Our stake is beyond 2019. What we have here is not even a letter, it is presentation of budget by the Governor. “The executive headed by the Governor must be ready to present the budget and we are ready to receive it,” he said. Hon. Yinka Ogundimu (Agege 2) in his contributions said the letter on 2019 Budget from the Governor got to the House on 17th December, 2018 and was received on Friday 28th, December, 2018. “We normally close early, but we closed late to receive the budget, it came about three days to the New Year and there was nothing we could have done. “The House normally have a date with the Governor, when he would present the budget. This is a clear departure from the norm and I think this should be addressed by all,” he said. In his contribution, Hon. Olanrewaju Ogunyemi (Ojo 2) explained that he listened to the Clerk of the House about the correspondence from the Governor, which he said ought to have been read out. The lawmaker said that if it was the actual budget, then they would excuse the Clerk for not reading it. Ogunyemi emphasized that the budget got to the House three days to the New Year, which according to him, was unusual. Stating further that the second reading of the budget could not come until January, 2019, maintaining the House is alive to its responsibility. Also in his comments, Hon. Dayo Saka-Fafunmi (Ifako-Ijaiye 1) who was in agreement with the observation raised by Hon. Yinka Ogundimu saying it was apt, and that the budget was part of the reasons they were elected into the House. “The first reading of the budget ought to be done by the Governor, who ought to lay the estimate before us. Since this has not been done, then we must insist on the proper procedure,” Fafunmi maintained. In his contributions, the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, who disclosed that the budget issue was already in public domain, revealed that he received several calls on the issue, but that he did not make any comment because he wanted to get proper information from the House on it. “It is clear that we were ready to work on the budget before the Christmas break, but we could not work on it because we did not get it on time. “We all know that there were always bilateral meetings between the executive and the legislature before the budget is presented to the House. “The constitution states that the Governor should lay the budget before the House. May be the correspondence before the Clerk is about the presentation of the budget. “So, what is before the House is a document that ought to be laid before the House and the committees of the House would sit on it. “The report could not be considered by the committees if it is not laid. “Members of the public may not know the procedure of the budget. “Section 121 of the Nigerian Constitution states that the budget must be laid before the House before the end of a financial year. “We should handle it in our usual family way and ensure that the executive does the normal thing as we are ready to do our work,” Agunbiade stated. Alade Tasma