— Jun 11, 2015 7:17 pm

The Ebonyi House of Assembly has
granted the request of Gov. Dave
Umahi to withdraw the 2015
budget proposal submitted by
former Gov. Martin Elechi in
December, 2014.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that the immediate past
House of Assembly failed to
approve the budget as it claimed
that officials of the past
administration failed to defend the
proposal.

The Leader of the House, Mr Joseph
Nwaobashi, read a letter from the
governor requesting the
withdrawal and subsequent
review of the budget estimates.
In their separate reactions, Messrs
Chief Francis Nwifuru (PDP-Ezza
North East) and Luke Nkwegu
(PDP-Abakaliki North) supported
the withdrawal of the budget by
the governor.

According to Nkwegu, the review
will help the government to make
estimates that will reflect current
economic realities in the state.
Mr Christian Oselebe, (PDP-
Ohaukwu South) urged members
to support withdrawal of the bill,
but called on the executive arm to
make the proposals to reflect
‘bottom-top’ approach.
“This implies that their
development proposals should
start from the grassroots before
getting to the urban areas to
ensure that they touch the people
positively,” he said.
Speaker of the House, Mr Ogbonnia
Nwifuru, passed the motion
supporting the withdrawal and
urged the Clerk of the House to
relay the resolution to the
governor.

In a related development,
Nwaobashi, the House Leader, also
read another letter from the
governor requesting for the
appointment of six Senior Special
Advisers.
The members also made various
contributions on the issue and
adopted the motion enabling the
governor to appoint the advisers.
The House also re-constituted the
committee set up by the immediate
past House of Assembly to
investigate the financial dealings of
the 13 local government areas and
development centers.
The committee, made up of 11
members, is headed by the Deputy
Speaker, Chief Obasi Odefa.

(NAN)