Authorities of Delta State Legislature have shed more light on the controversial 2016 budget of the state intervention agency, Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), saying that the House is unaware of the existence of the fiscal document.
House Committee Chairman on DESOPADEC, Dennis Omovie, made the clarification against the backdrop of insinuations that the House has passed the agency budget into law.
Omovie representing Warri II State Constituency said it was laughable reports that the speaker has already signed the purported 2016 DESOPADEC budget into law and advised journalists to always cross-check their facts before going to the press, adding that such sensationalism could overheat the polity.
He said: “The speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Monday Igbuya, does not have as part of his duties the signing of budget to law. It is strictly the responsibility of the governor to sign budget into law.
‘‘It is also a statement of fact that the speaker is not privy to the formulation of budgetary allocation to various agencies of government until the state governor forwards same to the House. It is most laughable for anybody or institution to ascribe to the speaker the responsibility of signing DESOPADEC budget into law.
“There is a level of responsibility from members of the public especially the fourth estate of the realm. The fact that there is paucity of fund should not make certain people to throw caution to the wind. The process of budgeting should be known to the press.
‘‘These processes are well laid out in the laws governing the day to day running of the state. Members of the press and the public are therefore advised to always verify and authenticate their sources of information before going to the press”.
He urged Deltans at home and abroad to ignore the sensational reports by a section of the press, stating that the state legislature would work on the document and appropriately pass it as soon as it was presented to it.
“Deltans can be rest assured that there is no cause for alarm and that when the DESOPADEC budget comes to the House of Assembly, it will not be a secret affair. We apologize to Deltans for any inconvenience caused” Omovie said.