By Precious Oluwole

Ondo State oil Producing Area Development Comission (OSOPADEC) on Wednesday defended the 16.5 bn for the year 2024.

It would be recalled that the budget was committed to committee stage last week at a plenary presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Olamide Oladiji.

In the budget of N16,589,793,823.64 , a sum of ₦3,249,906,749. 54 is for recurrent expenditure, and the sum of ₦13,339,889,74.5 is for capital expenditure for the year 2024.

The Chairman, House Committee on Finance and appropriation, Hon. Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, harped on the importance of budget, saying that without it, no agency or ministry could survive.

Ogunmolasuyi said that the exercise, which was backed by constitutional provision, involved public funds that must be accountable for, adding that the appropriation bill had made provisions for the mandate areas.

According to him, things are not really going well in the area despite that the government is doing its best, adding that the best is not yet enough for the people of the area.

He said that the people of the oil producing areas were giving a great proportion of support to the government of the state, hence the need for the government to reciprocate.

The chairman said that if the bill was holistically looked into and approved, it would bring better things for the people of the mandate area.

In his remarks, the Chairman, House Committee on OSOPADEC, Hon. Oluwatoyin Allen, implored members of both committees to be diligent and meticulous in the task so that appropriate provisions would be looked into for the betterment of people of the area.

Declaring the budget defence open, Hon. Allen said that the oil producing area was fraught with challenges that needed urgent and adequate provisions from the government that would proffer solutions.

He explained that the sea incursion which had affected some communities must be adequate addressed with provisions of the planned budget.

He appealed to the representatives of the ministry of Economic planning and budget to provide necessary technical guidance for the passage of the budget to meet expected need, urging OSOPADEC under the chairmanship of Mr Sam Erejuwa to present the budget in a clear term, to enhance the the technical committee to carry out a good job.

Hon. Allen further appreciated Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for his developmental jobs ongoing in the state, appealing to him to continually put his support in accessing the budget .

Also, Pastor Stephen Aworere, who spoke for the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, commended the members of the two committees for their usual support, adding that the bill if approved by the House of the Assembly would better the lives of people of the areas and tackle the environmental challenges being faced by them.

He said that the ministry had looked into the bill and provided the required technical guidance.

According to him, the OSOPADEC should be given all supports it needs at the moment because of ravaging sea incursion, noting that any support given the commission would provide succour to people that were groaning as a result of environmental challenges.

Responding, the Chairman of OSOPADEC, Mr Sam Erejuwa, described commission as a mini government responsible for two local government for their needs.

Erejuwa said that the areas supervised by the commission were in dire needs that required the assembly support. “We are truly interventionist agency just waiting for the approval of the house.

“We are mindful of the needs of our people as a commission and our objective is majorly to transform lives and tackle environmental challenges in the mandate areas,” he said.