The Benue State House of Assembly has passed the 2025 appropriation bill of N550.1 billion into law.
The bill was passed after scaling the third reading during a plenary presided over by the Speaker, Hyacinth Aondona Dajoh, on Monday.
The passage of the appropriation bill followed the presentation of the report of the House Committee on Appropriation by its chairman, Cephas Dyako.
Governor Hyacinth Alia had recently presented to the assembly the budget proposal christened “Budget of Human Capital Development, Food Security and Digital Economy.”
The bill was read and adopted clause by clause before the Committee of the Whole House while the clerk of the house, John Hwande, read the bill for the third time.
Also, during plenary, the House approved all six recommendations made by the Ad Hoc Committee constituted to investigate the controversies surrounding the recruitment of primary school teachers by the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, arising from the briefing and interaction with the executive chairman of the board, Dr Grace Adagba.
The approved recommendations include: “That the Board do reassess the recruitment process and ensure compliance with extant laws based on fairness, equity and justice to reflect state character; that the Board do ensure that applicants are shortlisted and employed strictly in their local governments of origin, taking note of the financial autonomy granted to local governments; that the House do constitute a compliance committee to monitor the implementation of all House Resolutions and recommend sanctions where necessary; that all government appointees do desist from actions that undermine the authority of the Honourable House; and that the House do lift all suspensions placed on the recruitment exercise for the interest of the applicants.”
Two bills—the Rev Fr Moses Orshio Adasu University and the Benue State University of Agriculture Science and Technology Ihugh Bill—also enjoyed third reading at the plenary and were passed.
Addressing the House, Speaker Dajoh disclosed that during the second sitting, the Benue State House of Assembly received 16 bills and passed nine while four are in committees and five are pending.
He said the assembly received 13 reports, out of which one has been conclusively debated while 12 are still pending.
The Assembly received and deliberated on 17 substantive motions and adopted 31 major resolutions; it received seven major communications, including requests to revise the 2024 Supplementary Budget and confirm the governor’s nominees for appointment as chairman and members of the Benue State House of Assembly Service Commission.
The House subsequently proceeded on recess, marking the end of the Second Sitting of the Second Legislative Session of the Tenth Assembly.