- Five other bills pass through the first reading
- Governor Oyebanji forwards list of new nominees for appointments
By Editor
The Ekiti State House of Assembly has considered seven bills at the Plenary held on Thursday 8th February, 2024.
Ekiti State Regulation Approval Bill, a private member bill sponsored by Hon. Babatunde Oke (Ikere I) and other 4 Co-sponsors, was first considered at the Plenary.
Leading the debate, Hon. Babatunde Oke explained the importance of the bill and the need to be given accelerated passage by the House.
“Rt. Hon. Speaker, the importance of this bill cannot be over-emphasized. As the law-making body of the State, this bill would allow the House to approve all regulations made by MDAs in the State in order to check arbitrary regulations not based on government policies or in contradiction with the law.”
“All regulations made by the MDAs would be published in the Official Gazette after its approval by the House of Assembly. This would allow Ekiti citizens to have access to all regulations and be duly informed.”
After considering the report of the Committee of the Whole House on the bill, it was read the third time and passed into law.
The report of the Committee on Environment on The Ekiti State Environmental and Watershed Management Agency Bill, 2024 was read by the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. (Barr.) Iyabo Fakunle-Okieimen.
“At the plenary of Wednesday 20th September, 2023, the House considered the bill and committed same to the House Committee on Environment for a thorough legislative scrutiny.”
“On Tuesday 19th December, 2023, the Committee organized a Public Hearing at the Hallowed Chamber, where stakeholders made their inputs in order to capture divergent interests of different sectors in the State.”
The report was laid before the House by the Chairman of the Committee and motion was moved for same to be adopted as a working document of the House. After considering all the amendments made by the Committee and contributions by members at the Committee of the Whole House, the bill was read the third time and passed into law.
Ekiti State Asset Management Bill, 2024 was read the second time. Leading the debate was the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Tolu Ige (Ekiti Southwest II).
“This bill would provide a strategic approach for the reservation, rehabilitation and maintenance of our assets in Ekiti State.”
“Furthermore, the functions assigned to the Agency under this bill are diverse and encompass various aspects of asset management, including the development of guidelines, creation of asset registers, design of master plans, maintenance scheduling, facility management, performance monitoring, and advisory services. These functions underscore the holistic approach envisaged by this bill towards ensuring the effective utilization and preservation of our state’s assets.”
After the debate, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Adeoye Aribasoye, committed the bill to the House Committee on Investment for proper legislative scrutiny and to submit their report to the House within two weeks.
Other bills that were considered and passed through the first reading were:
i. Ekiti State Legislative House (Powers and Privileges) Bill 2024 to repeal The Legislative House (Powers and Privileges) Law, 2010
ii. Ekiti State Fund Management (First Amendment) Bill, 2023
iii. Ekiti State Local Content (First Amendment) Bill, 2024
iv. Ekiti State Order of Precedence of Public Officers (First Amendment) Bill, 2024
Earlier at the Plenary, Governor Oyebanji’s letter, seeking for the screening and confirmation of three nominees for appointments was read by the Speaker.
In the list, we have a retired Permanent Secretary in the state, Mr James Folorunso, as the Director General of the, BPP, as well as Dr Olufunke Fajobi and Dr Joshua Adeoye as Commissioners in SUBEB; the Speaker announced that the screening procedure would be communicated to the nominees.
The House adjourned to Thursday 15th February, 2024.
