As the year 2023 comes to an end in 20 days, no less than 10 states are yet to present their budget for 2024.
While some of the states plan for the presentation, the reason for the ‘delay’ for some of these states is the crisis rocking their political affairs.
With Ondo State taking the lead, the ongoing political crisis in the state has been affecting governance.
The state has been in the news in the last couple of months due to the absence of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu since he arrived in the country in September after a medical trip to Germany.
Akeredolu is reportedly said to have remained in his house in Ibadan, Oyo State, without proper ‘transfer of power’ to the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
The state House of Assembly had called for the resignation of Aiyedatiwa over alleged gross misconduct before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on September 26 restrained the Assembly from impeaching the deputy governor.
Justice Emeka Nwite made the ruling shortly after Aiyedatiwa’s counsel, Kayode Adewusi, moved the ex-parte motion.
The judge also restrained Akeredolu from nominating a new deputy governor and forwarding same to the lawmakers for approval pending the hearing and determination of the substantive matter.
Aiyedatiwa had in a motion on notice marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1294/2023, sued the Inspector-General of Police and the Department of State Services, Akeredoku, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Chief Judge of Ondo State, and the House of Assembly as 1st to 6th respondents respectively.
Aiyedatiwa had, also in another suit marked: AK/348/2023 asked the High Court in Akure to stop the state’s House of Assembly from proceeding with the impeachment proceedings against him.
However, the Presidency intervened as deputy governor, lawmakers, and others involved embraced peace and vowed to maintain the status quo, after hours of deliberations between the President and state officials, including members of the All Progressives Congress, met at the Presidential Villa on November 24.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, partly read, “The President advised all opposing parties to bury the hatchet and embrace peace, eliciting commitments to this effect.
“This means that Governor Akeredolu remains the Chief Executive of the State, Aiyedatiwa remains Deputy Governor, and members of the State Executive Council continue their respective duties, even as the leadership of the State’s House of Assembly and the APC Chapter in Ondo State is preserved.”
The intervention led to the first State Executive Council meeting on November 30, after several months and was presided over by Aiyedatiwa.
The state House of Assembly also dropped its suit against the deputy governor.
However, the crisis took a new twist as the state Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr Razak Obe, last Friday wrote to Aiyedatiwa and alleged that the signature of Akeredolu was forged.
According to him, the forgery was discovered by a forensic expert.
“The regularities in the signature were first observed when a file from my ministry was returned through the office of the Secretary to the State Government. This is the only file that has been returned so far out of the five files that were sent to Mr Governor for approval about two months ago.
“Under close inspection, I noticed significant differences between the suspicious signature and handwriting and Mr Governor’s known signature and handwriting in the file,” the letter partly read.
With the latest development, there is no sign that the state is likely to present its budget soon as nothing has been said about it by the state government.
Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Fatai Adams, disclosed that the ruling party in the state does not mean well for its residents.
He said, “The APC as a party, the people in APC government, and the entire structure of that party don’t mean well for this state and nation. As far as Ondo State is concerned, our people are suffering daily.”
However, efforts to reach the Secretary to the State Government, Oladunni Odu, for reaction and when the state would present its 2024 budget proved abortive as she did not attend to calls.
RIVERS, SAME AS ONDO
The Rivers State House of Assembly had earlier wanted to impeach the state Governor, Siminalayi Fubara. It was, however, unsuccessful.
Nyesom Wike, a former governor of the state, however, alleged that Fubara was behind the burning of the hallowed chambers of the state House of Assembly that occurred on October 29, to prevent his impeachment.
Wike said Fubara should have confronted him on the issue, rather than send people to “burn the hallowed chambers,” while Fubara disclosed he remains loyal to the former governor.
However, The PUNCH reports on December 8 that Fubara said no level of sabotage deliberately staged would make him abandon the mandate given to him to serve, protect and advance the fortunes of the state.
The Assembly remains factionalised between Fubara and Wike’s loyalists, with the pro-Wike lawmakers accusing Fubara of withholding the Assembly’s funds.
Among other states yet to present their budgets are Borno, Imo, Kaduna, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Taraba, and Zamfara.
However, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu last Friday said he will soon present a budget of over N2trn to the state House of Assembly.
He added that the state needs at least a N7trn budget for infrastructure and basic amenities in the 2024 fiscal year.
He said, “Though we are proposing over N2trn budget size for the year 2024 to be presented to the state House of Assembly soon and we are having a demand of N7trn, our revenue is far from it.
“That’s one of the challenges we are having presently. We want to fix roads and do it correctly. We need to scale up with modern technology and put in place enduring policies. We didn’t anticipate the current inflationary rate.
“Our focus is on how to meet the demands of our people amidst the speculative market.”
