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A group, The Osun Renaissance Project (TORP), says the Osun State House of Assembly has not lived up to expectations on legislative accomplishments and public conduct of members.
TORP, while condemning the alleged involvement of the Speaker of the House, Adewale Egbedun, in a land dispute in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, said the lawmakers should focus on policies that would lead to the development of the state.
The TORP said this in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Olalekan Fagbemi, on Tuesday.
The group said, “While his office continues to claim that his involvement in the matter was due to a distress call, he must still note that public office holders must conduct themselves in ways that are not only dignifying, but are also reflective of the honour ascribed to the office they hold.
“The Speaker must take lessons in public conduct for public office holders and understand that our society cannot work by such spontaneous reactions, but through the unobstructed functioning of the several structures that make up our society.
“As head of the Legislature, he must understand the conducts permissible for his office and must stop acting in ways that call the integrity of his office to question.
“Members of the House of Assembly must also double up, and put more efforts into delivering on their mandates through the promulgation of landmark laws that will galvanize the State’s development and guarantee a better life for all citizens.”
“Worthy of note, is the Osun Youth Policy, a youth development roadmap that was launched under the Oyetola-led administration in our State. A Youth-dominated Assembly should normally be interested in the speedy implementation of such laudable ideas, to better the lives of their fellow youths.
“We call on the Osun State House of Assembly to double its efforts and ensure this chance they all got to lead a generational shift in our State’s leadership, becomes the foundation for increased youth inclusion across every sector of our dear State.”
The TORP further condemned the alleged neglect of some critical sectors of development, including agriculture and food security; women, children, and social affairs; and youths development; in Osun State.
The TORP said the budget performance report for first quarter of 2024 showed some disturbing realities, adding, “For example, while the Osun State House of Assembly spent a whooping sum of N611,091,280.48 in Quarter 1 of 2024, the entire Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security got a paltry N164,997,969.55 in the same period.
“The Osun State House of Assembly, a sector of governance that produces nothing, got nearly four times the fund allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security that is expected to produce food and ease the lives of the State’s people.
“Within the same period, the Ministry of Works spent in excess of N17,242,506,008.28, suggesting that the current government in the State places a higher value on infrastructure than it places on food security.
“This worrisome trend cannot continue if Osun must truly develop. We must focus on, and adequately finance critical sectors of development, ensuring that we achieve holistic growth that will make life easier on the citizenry.”
It stressed that the welfare of the citizens should be the priority of the government, especially areas of food production, youth development, women and children welfare, and healthcare delivery, noting that “Osun cannot afford to fail in these regards while building bridges”.
The group added, “A quick look at the Budget Performance report for Quarter 1 2024 also revealed that the Culture and Tourism Ministry received a paltry sum of 172,460,603.60 in three months. This figure will most likely have gone into servicing recurrent expenditure in the Ministry, instead of adequate financing to turn around the tourist attractions.
“As it is with the Agriculture sector, the State Government does not seem to be interested in real revenue generating sectors and has left much of them to rot. We should not continue like this.
“We advise the Osun State Government to do better with critical sectors that have capacity to drive revenue generation and deepen our economy.”
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