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| Hon.Ogbor Odop, Member representing Biase State Constituency at the 8th CRSHA |
|19 February 2018 | Ukorebi Esien
The governor has made it very clear that you don't think according to your pocket nowadays, you have to go out of your pocket and dig deep into your head. And when that happens, there's nothing you can not realise, man has an almost infinite depth in terms of what he can create.
That is why on the floor of the House I said that if we are what we should be then even N1.3 trillion will be too small.
I made it clear that if we can think deep... Are you telling me that for a population of over 4 million that a budget of N1.3 trillion is too much? That's because we have been reducing ourselves, and we have not been bringing our best.
What the governor is trying to say is to tell us to work harder, to trust in ourselves and if we do, we will realise that even the N1.3trillion will be small.
—Hon. Ogbor Ogbor Odop, Member representing Biase State Constituency at the 8th CRSHA
On Thursday 15th February 2018 the 8th Cross River State House of Assembly passed the N1.3 trillion 2018 Appropriation bill into law. The Honourable Member representing Biase State Constituency at the Assembly, Odop popularly called Rootman has borne his mind on the passage. In this interview to the press, Odop said considering our needs, the trillion naira budget is even paltry. Hear his reasons:
Thedailynews: Today the House met in regards of the budget christened Budget of Kinetic Crystallisation, so what was the result of the sitting?
ROOTMAN: Yes the house met in a sitting and contribution was done on the floor of the House.
The House has considered the report of the relevant committee agreed in the interest of the State. So, the project will be executed, all the crystallisation will actually start, the House with some amendment, which is natural after a lot of consultation has been done, passed the bill into law. And like the Speaker said, that is the most important bill in any parliament in any given year.
So it's left for us to do our work: first, for the committees of the House to carry out their oversight functions and for the press which the fourth estate of the realm to do their investigations and everything another thing that is necessary for the budget to be implemented.
Thedailynews: The budget has been passed with a bogus amount of N1.3 trillion?
ROOTMAN: Yes!
Thedailynews: The chairman of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation said there was a reduction of about 50 billion Naira from the appropriation bill, sir, what's your take on that? Is it too small or is it too much?
ROOTMAN: That's why I said that after some consultations, analysis, it arrived at N1.3 trillion instead of N1.3 trillion, that is to say, that about N50 billion have been deducted; and if I have to add, it is budget that emanates from the deep vision budget.
The governor has made it very clear that you don't think according to your pocket now a day, you have to go out of your pocket and dig deep into your head. And when that happens, there's nothing you can not realise, man has an almost infinite depth in terms of what he can create.
That is why on the floor of the House I said that if we are what we should be then even N1.3 trillion will be too small.
I made it clear that if we can think deep... Are you telling me that for a population of over 4 million that a budget of N1.3 trillion is too much? That's because we have been reducing ourselves, and we have not been bringing our best.
What the governor is trying to say is to tell us to work harder, to trust in ourselves and if we do, we will realise that even the N1.3 trillion will be small.
Thedailynews: Sir, the House just approved 20 billion Naira in the 2018 budget for the repairs/construction of Tinapa/Odukpani junction and we all know that the road is a federal road had been awarded by the federal government two years ago.
ROOTMAN: Yes it is a federal road. But, if the state government knows that it has become important and urgent for her to intervene, that is to say, the federal government can make a refund appropriately. It's Ok.
The same people who will always say that the government should intervene though it's a federal road, and when you tell them that how can the governor intervene when it's a federal road —they argue that the governor should know that he's governor of the state.
We have to believe for the governor to capture it in the budget despite the amount of money involved, and then it means there must have been an understanding between the contractors or arrangements to get the refund. We should expect that even without been told. We should expect that.
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