Ondo assembly passes 2025 appropriation bill into law

The Ondo State House of Assembly on Tuesday passed the state’s 2025 appropriation bill into law as it approves a total of N698,659,496,000.

The state Governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, a few days ago presented the proposed budget of a total of N655,230 billion to the legislators for the 2025 fiscal year, as a total of N265,037,496,000 was earmarked for recurrent expenditure, while N433,622,000,000 was allocated to capital expenditure.

However, it could be observed that the passed budget, which was christened ‘Budget of Recovery’, had an increase of N43 billion.

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During a plenary session, the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Mr Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, presented the committee’s report to the House.

Ogunmolasuyi, who is also the majority leader, informed the Assembly that the increase in the budget was to reflect current economic realities, including the removal of fuel subsidies, fluctuating exchange rates, and the recent minimum wage increase.

“Initially, a sum of N655,230,000,000.00 was presented to the House in the Appropriation Bill. In the course of budget consideration, careful scrutiny of figures was undertaken, comparing the current year’s expenditure with the 2024 proposal. The Committee observed that fiscal priorities have shifted, necessitating adjustments,” he explained.

He recommended that the state government should ensure that the schedules which accommodated necessary adjustments that were required to meet the urgent needs of the people were conscientiously applied to the needs stated therein.

The committee chairman added, ” The state Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Ministry of Finance in conjunction with Ondo State Internal Revenue Service should ensure that the desire of the government to boost its independent revenue was pursued in line with the dictates of the extant laws”

In his remarks, the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Olamude Oladiji expressed optimism that the 2025 budget would stimulate economic growth and enable the execution of new projects and programmes critical to the state’s development.

He commended Governor Aiyedatiwa’s leadership style. The speaker said collaboration between the executive and legislative arms was imperative for the progress and development of the state.

Also during the session, the Assembly passed two other bills into law, which included the amendment of Ondo State University of Medical Sciences Law, 2015 and the bill prohibiting forceful entry, illegal occupation of landed property, and violent or fraudulent conduct related to land matters in the state. Both bills were passed after scaling through third readings.