The Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin has directed the House Committees on Finance, Appropriation and Economic Planning and Works to follow due diligence before the approval of a N150bn loan request by Governor Seyi Makinde.
The Speaker urged the committees to meet with the concerned ministries within a week in order to come up with a comprehensive report on the loan request, the mode of payment, the state’s debt profile, as well as specifications of the projects in question.
The directive was followed by Governor Seyi Makinde’s request to the Oyo State House of Assembly to access a loan of one hundred and fifty billion naira (N150b) to finance the ongoing 110km Senator Rashidi Ladoja Circular Road project in Ibadan and other infrastructure.
The Governor made the request in a letter forwarded to the state legislature which was read on Tuesday by the Speaker, Hon Adebo Ogundoyin.
Makinde in the letter said that the request became necessary to enable the state government to complete the 104km road project and others like it in Oyo State.
The Speaker in his submission stressed the need for the committees to get all necessary briefs on the request and report to the House in one week.
“Having #150,000 billion for Ibadan Circular Road and other infrastructure is a good idea but we have to consider the payback mechanism. I meant the payment procedure. We also want the two committees to get all necessary details about the proposed loan. We need a holistic report on the request, the economic impacts of the road and other infrastructure when completed among other details.” Oyo Speaker said.
Meanwhile, Governor Seyi Makinde has forwarded the name of immediate past Commissioner for Education, Barrister Abdulrahman Abdulraheem to the state House of Assembly as the Chairman, Oyo State Education Trust Fund.
The governor also forwarded the name of Dr. Nureni Adeniran as the Chairman, Oyo State Basic Education Board.
The names were contained in a letter sent to the House by Governor Seyi Makinde and read at the plenary on Tuesday.
The Speaker, Hon. Adobo Ogundoyin, however, instructed the appointees (Bar. Abdulraheem and Dr. Adeniran) to appear before the House Committee on Education for the screening exercise.
