Ogun lawmaker slams colleagues over express approval of ‘frivolous’ loans

A member representing Ogun Waterside State Constituency in the Ogun State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Harrison, has carpeted his fellow lawmakers, especially those from Ogun East and West Senatorial Districts, for giving express approval to “frivolous” loan requests by the state governor.

Harrison, who spoke in an interview, on Saturday, in Abeokuta, also disclosed that the passage of the 2018 appropriation bill was not done in the interest of the people of the state.

According to him, the budget was fraught with a lot of “paddings”, adding the budget was passed into law without thorough scrutiny by his colleagues.

He added that contrary to insinuations that all members in the state assembly are “rubber stamp” lawmakers, few of them were in the House to ensure good governance and protect interests of their constituents.

He further pointed out that the same lawmakers, who he tagged “bad representatives of their constituents” were fond of approving to “frivolous” loan requests sent to the House by the governor without considering their implications on Ogun state people.

Harrison said, “It is important I say this, the lawmakers in the Ogun State of Assembly, particularly those from Ogun West and East Senatorial Districts, have jeopardised the future of the state through unnecessary loan approvals.

“Myself and few lawmakers tried our best to ensure that unnecessary loans were not approved by the House but since we are in the minority there was little or nothing we could do.

“There are lots of duplications in the 2018 budget and these people still went on through the Finance and Appropriation Committee to approve the budget”.

The lawmaker, however, vowed to continue to expose various legislative atrocities in the House, noting “I was voted for to be a good representative of my people and to also ensure good governance”.