2 months ago
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Osun State House of Assembly
A civil society group, The Osun Masterminds and the leadership of the State House of Assembly on Saturday differed over petitions demanding accountability from the parliament that had been allegedly ignored by the lawmakers.
Addressing journalists in Osogbo, the Executive Director of the group, Prof Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, condemned the refusal of the parliament to respond to the petitions written against it.
The group, while urging the State House of Assembly to be alive to its duties and know that it remains an integral part of its responsibilities to respond to letters and petitions written to it, expressed worries over the parliament’s refusal to respond to demands for accountability.
“We bemoan and condemn in very strong terms the irresponsibility of the Osun House of Assembly in the management of demands placed on them and response to petitions written to her. As a group, we have a record of petitions written to the House of Assembly by groups that form our coalition and those not even related to us at all.
“The House of Assembly should be a place of succour for the people they represent and one with the utmost standard of integrity, probity and accountability but when such ignores call for accountability and response to public outcry, it becomes worrisome.
“We charge the state house of Assembly to be alive to her duties and know that it is part of her responsibility to respond to letters and petitions written to her. No society thrives on impunity and lack of respect for the people with whom lies the ultimate power,” Oyedokun-Alli said.
Responding, the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Mr Olamide Tiamiyu, said the Osun State House Assembly would not ignore genuine requests and petitions.
Tiamiyu added, “However, we will not be harangued by the mischief of some politicians disguising as activists, whose sole objective is to draw the House to its narrow politics of distortion.
“As much as we do not want to join anyone in a debate, we must point out the disregard for laid down processes in the filing of some of the petitions being referred to here, which we suspect was set out from the start to embarrass the House and not for genuine information. For clarity, some of the petitions are addressed to the wrong offices and attempt to make the persons behind it correct the error was never adhered to.”
“For public information, we state that the appropriated fund for the House is public information that can be accessed either through the quarterly budget performance document published by BudgIT or the Financial of the State in every fiscal year.
“In any case that anyone requires further information, the appropriate authority is the Clerk of the House, who is the Accounting Officer of the House. It is also important to stress that the answers on expenditures of the House had at a point been provided by the State Ministry of Budget and Planning, exposing the characters behind the latest attack on the Assembly as nothing but political tools.”
