A civil society organization in Osun State, Centre for Sustained Dialogue has written the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun to explain what the parliament under him used N886m for in three months.
According to a letter sent to the House of Assembly, a copy of which was obtained by InsightMedia in Osogbo, the organization described the amount spent by the Assembly as outrageous, asking for clarification on the project.
The letter signed by Comrade Waheed Saka, stated that the amount spent by the House of Assembly Service Commission within the same period is N26.6m.
The letter partly reads, “We thoroughly digested the Osun State budget performance reports for the past two years and we have returned with a lot of questions to which we seek clarifications. We will take our comparisons from the year 2020.
“For Quarter 3 2020 (July, August, and September), under items 011200300100 and 011200400100, the expenditure of the House of Assembly stood at One hundred and twenty-nine million, five hundred and seventy-four thousand, sixty-four Naira, four kobo (129,574,064.04) and the expenditure for the House of Assembly Service Commission stood at six million, four hundred and forty-one thousand, three hundred and twenty-one Naira, eight kobo (6,441,321,08). These two House of Assembly items ran to a total of one hundred and thirty-six million, fifteen thousand, three hundred and eighty-five naira, forty-eight kobo (136,015,385.48).
“For Quarter 2 2022 (April, May, and June), under items 011200300100 and 011200400100, the expenditure of the House of Assembly stood at two hundred and thirty-five million, three hundred and twenty-seven thousand, seven hundred and twelve Naira, fifty-nine kobo (235,327,712.59) while that of the House of Assembly Service Commission stood at seventeen million, three hundred and fifty-four thousand, five hundred and eighty-one Naira, thirty-seven kobo (17,354,581.37). These two items ran to a total of two hundred and fifty-two million, six hundred and eighty-two thousand, two hundred and ninety-three Naira, ninety-six kobo (252,682,293.96).
“Those figures were under the leadership of your predecessor, Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye, as Speaker of the Assembly.
“A check of the Quarter 3 2023 (July, August, and September) budget performance report, now under your leadership, shows a humongous increase in the expenditure of the House of Assembly that we are struggling to understand, thus necessitating this open letter.
“For Quarter 3, 2023, the Osun State House of Assembly, under item 011200300100, expended a total of Eight hundred and eighty-six million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand, eight hundred and eighty-two Naira, forty-nine kobo (886,459,882.49) while the House of Assembly Service Commission expended twenty-six million, six hundred and six thousand, one hundred and eighty-nine Naira, eighteen kobo (26,606,189.18). These two items run to a total expenditure of Nine hundred and thirteen million, sixty-six thousand, seventy-one Naira, sixty-seven kobo (913,066,071.67).
“For more relevant comparison, the total House of Assembly expenditure for Quarter 3 2022 was Four hundred and ten million, five hundred and fifty-six thousand, two hundred and twenty-nine Naira, ninety-two kobo (410,556,229.92). Quarter 1 2023 was three hundred and eleven million, seven thousand, three hundred and ninety-one Naira, forty-nine kobo (311,007,391.49).”
The CSO’s letter demanded explanation on the expenses, stating that the demands are in the spirit of the transparency and accountability.
“In the spirit of transparency, and invoking the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, we seek to know the breakdown of monthly expenditure of the House of Assembly, including total overhead costs and a breakdown of running costs for your office and the offices of the Members of the House of Assembly.
“We seek to know the nature and description of any ongoing capital project in the House of Assembly, that may necessitate such expenditure as is shown in the Q3 budget performance report.
“We ask that you consider this open letter a sincere search for clarifications about the finances of the House of Assembly. We believe that Osun people deserve to know how their resources are being appropriated and expended.
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Olamide Tiamiyu did not respond to request for response by InsightMedia as at the time of filing this report.
