Osun Assembly Passes Vote of Confidence on Speaker

Members of the Osun House of Assembly on Thursday passed vote of confidence on the Speaker, Mr Najeem Salaam, over what they described as “his quality leadership style”.

The assembly members commended the leadership of the house when they appeared before the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation to defend the 2017 budget proposal in Osogbo.

The N3.2 billion budget proposal was presented to the committee by the Leader of Government Business, Mr Timothy Owoeye.

In his remarks, Mr Kamil Oyedele, the House Committee Chairman on Finance and Appropriation,  said the manner in which the Speaker had been directing the affairs of the assembly has translated to peaceful coexistence between the executive and the legislative arms of government in the state.

Oyedele said, “No doubt, the leadership style of Mr Speaker has always propelled members to toll the line of peaceful co-existence with the executive, and this has been translating to development of the state.

“All these names calling like “rubber stamp”, “Yesso” and the likes are enough to trigger violence in the house, but we are not bothered.

“We can see that the collaboration with the governor is translating to the development of this state.

“If they call us different names, we are happy that we rubbers stamp for development and stand for the development of this state.

“So, we are passing vote of confidence on Mr Speaker and determined to toll the line of peaceful co-existence for the development of our state,” Oyelede said.

Also speaking, Mr Rasheed Afolabi, the House Committee Chairman on Public Account, said the speaker was a man of peace.

He also commended Gov. Rauf Aregbesola for cooperating with members of the assembly.

He said the respect for the autonomy of the assembly was one of such cooperation in a right direction.

Afolabi said the assembly would not relent in giving support to the governor.

Mr Tunde Olatunji, the House Committee Chairman on Industries, Commerce, Cooperatives and Youth Empowerment, described the speaker as a man of peace, who is always catering for the interest of other members.

Olatunji, said members of the assembly would continue to support the speaker, adding that he deserved the vote of confidence passed on him.

Meanwhile, Mr Segun Olorunsogo, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Economic Planning, Budget and Development, presented a budget estimate of N725.9 million to the assembly.