The Deputy Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Abdulwasi Musah has revealed that in comparison with the efforts of the previous assemblies of the state, the 8th Assembly of the state has performed well above average within its two years of inauguration.
Hon Musah, who made this known at an exclusive interview with CEOAfrica on its online television programme ‘Community Today’ explained that unlike its predecessors, the 8th Assembly of Oyo State has been focusing on activities that has a direct bearing and impact on the people of the state.
Reeling out the accomplishments of the Oyo Assembly in the last two years, the lawmaker representing Saki West Constituency of the state noted that in addition to other legislative functions, the state’s legislative arm has passed 46 Bills into law, has 11 bills in various committee stages and has passed 80 resolutions.
The graduate of Law from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife further mentioned that the House of Assembly has been engaging in numerous over-sight functions that have enabled the lawmakers to checkmate the excesses of the Executive arm of the state’s government. He said “The 8th Assembly has been able to follow with due diligence, the way money appropriated to the executive is being spent and we ensure that projects embarked on are properly executed.”
Contributions to his Constituency
Hon Musah, who compared his performance to that of his predecessors, graded his performance so far as excellent. He stated that out of the 46 Bills passed in the House, he has personally sponsored and co-sponsored about 12 Bills and out of the 80 motions and resolutions passed by the 8th Assembly, he sponsored and co-sponsored about 22 motions. He explained that he has been actively involved in many of the legislative duties of the House.
Speaking about his contribution towards the development of his constituency, Hon Musah explained that he introduced town hall meetings for the first time in his constituency to discuss with his constituents how best to develop the community. He noted that in spite of the fact that Oyo lawmakers had not been given constituency allowance, he had, from his personal allowance, been able to provide four motorised bore holes, conduct free tutorial programme for Secondary school students and is presently constructing an ICT centre at School of Basic Midwifery in his constituency.
Involvement of Oyo Assembly in LAUTECH’s Crisis
The Deputy Speaker further mentioned that the Oyo State House of Assembly has been actively involved in tackling the challenges currently facing Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho. He revealed that the 8th Assembly had anticipated the impending problem of the Institution and had promptly moved a motion that the ownership of LAUTECH should be severed from Osun State.
(L-R) Mr Cletus Ilobanafor and The Deputy Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Abdulwasi Musah at the Inetrview on Community Today.
He explained that despite Osun State’s refusal to relinquish ownership to Oyo State, they still had difficulty remitting their quota of the university’s subvention – a short-coming which contributed to the escalated crisis the school is currently battling with. He noted however that Oyo State, prior to the crisis, had been faithfully performing its obligations towards the institution.
Hon Musah said “When the issue first started, we moved a motion for the school to be solely-owned by Oyo state alone, since Osun State has its own university but Osun State refused. Although Oyo was performing its share of the school’s responsibility, the problem of LAUTECH became aggravated as Osun could not perform as expected because of the economic recession in the country.
The lawmaker revealed that as part of efforts to put an end to the crisis, the Oyo Assembly came up with immediate, mid-term and long-term solutions, adding that the long-term solution is to sever the ownership of LAUTECH, while the mid-term solution was the inauguration of a new Governing Council for the school. He said, “The new governing council has come up with their programme and they have assured us that within 90 days, the school will be reopened.”
Marginalisation of Oke-Ogun
Reacting to agitations by the Oke-Ogun zone of the state to produce the next governor, Hon Musah affirmed that the zone had been marginalised and deserved an opportunity to produce the next governor of the state. “As a matter of equity, justice and fair-play, no sector of the opportunity should be denied the opportunity to produce the governor of the state.
“Oke-Ogun has contributed more than all other zones to the development of the state. Oke- Ogun has produced several illustrious people. A current Minister in the Federal level is from Oke-ogun, the Deputy-Governor and many other prominent people are from Oke-Ogun. So you cannot say Oke-Ogun is not qualified to produce a governor because of their location. So I believe that in the interest of equality, Oke-Ogun should be allowed the opportunity to produce the next governor,” he stated.
