Lawmaker assures of effective implementation of 2016 budget

National Assembly

A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Olusegun Odebunmi (Oyo-PDP) has assured Nigerians that the legislature would ensure effective implementation of the 2016 budget through its oversight function.

Odebunmi, who is Chairman, Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values of the house, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.

He expressed optimism that the 8th National Assembly would synergise with the executive in the implementation of the budget.

“The leadership did its best to make sure that the budget was passed as planned.

“The delay in the budget is affecting us economically and I believe once it is signed by the President, most of our challenges will be addressed.

“I also want to assure Nigerians that we are fully ready for the oversight of the budget; we will monitor the implementation of the budget,’’ he said.

The lawmaker appealed to Nigerians to exercise more patience as the country had the potential to become greater, and urged the Federal Government not to allow the Almajiri school programme to die.
“The Almajiris should not be left alone, and they should make sure that all the children in Nigeria are in school so that we can have a better future for this country.

“Education is the key to accessing anything in the world; our children should abandon the market for the elderly ones and go back to school and be empowered,’’ he said.

He said that if the rising number of unemployed youths in the country was not properly addressed, it could pose a bigger problem for the youth.

The lawmaker therefore urged government to evolve ways to create employment for the youths.

“The government has a role to play in generating employment; building shops is not employment generation; on daily, yearly basis, we graduate our younger ones from the university.

“We should not expect them to go to the market; instead we should create employment for them, employment that has a better future that they can retire from,’’ he said.

Odebunmi urged government to create the enabling environment for the private sector to build industries that would provide employment for youths.