The Kogi state house of assembly on Tuesday explained the reasons for the speedy passage and signing of the 2018 appropriation bill of the state.
The speaker of the house, Rt Hon Matthew Kolawole, said the assembly wasted no time in passing the budget into law in the interest of the people of the state that were yearning for development.
Speaking with newsmen in the activities of the house, he said the notion that the lawmakers rushed the budget for their selfish interest was unfounded as they were only concerned about the generality of the state.
According to him, the assembly had proposed to pass the budget after its resumption from recess in March but had to change the decision and cut short its recess to complete debate on it and pass it into law.
Kolawole explained that the assembly took the step to enable the governor to spend from the funds appropriated in the budget for developmental projects and avoid rolling over its expenses.
He however assured that the budget was passed into law after each ministry, parastatals and government agencies defended their estimates and the lawmakers found their presentations acceptable.
The speaker also said the lawmakers increased the budget from N147 billion to N153 billion when it discovered that the provisions for the Kogi State University, Anyigba and the School of Nursing, Obangede, were not enough to conduct their accreditation.
On the controversial N10 billion loan taken by the executive towards the end of 2017, Kolawole explained that the circumstances that led to the collection of the loan made it impossible for the approval of the house.
He said the governor took the loan through a consultant to enable him to offset the salary arrears of workers, saying the urgency attached to the reason for the loan was responsible for the development.
He, however, said the governor would still write to the assembly for approval when it is time to commence repayment of the loan.
Credit: Tribune