The Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. (Prince) Yekini Idaiye, has pledged to operate an open-door policy throughout his tenure, assuring members and staff of transparency and inclusiveness in the administration of the Assembly.
Rt. Hon. Idaiye made the commitment when the Forum of Directors of the Edo State House of Assembly paid him a courtesy visit.
The Speaker said he had nothing to hide from members and staff of the Assembly, stressing that his administration was committed to ensuring that things were done properly for the benefit of all.
He disclosed that the recurrent expenditure of the House remained intact, while funds allocated for capital projects would be used strictly for infrastructure development.
Rt. Hon. Idaiye also decried the alleged mismanagement of the Assembly’s funds, which he said resulted in the amendment of the House Autonomy Law.
He assured the Directors that the Assembly would construct additional offices for staff members and make arrangements for refresher training programmes if the Assembly’s allocations increased.
According to the Speaker, members previously had limited information about the funds accruing to the Assembly.
“Before now, members did not know what was coming to the House. What we were told then was that we got 70% or 80% of the allocation; members did not know the exact amount.”
He added: “What I did when we got our allocation was to make everything public. All of us gathered in the executive session, and I told them what we got. The members know what we got and how the funds were disbursed.”
Earlier, the Director of the Pensions Department, Mr. Mohammed Kassim, who spoke on behalf of the Forum of Directors of the Edo State House of Assembly, appealed to the Speaker to create more Deputy Clerk positions in order to expand the top administrative structure of the House.
Mr. Kassim also appealed to the Speaker to construct additional office spaces to accommodate more staff and organise refresher training programmes for the Directors.
In her vote of thanks, the Director of Information, Mrs. Adesuwa Aideyan, thanked the Speaker for his magnanimity and stressed the need for greater cohesion between the leadership of the House and the Directors to promote efficiency and accountability.
She added that all Directors should be allowed to perform their duties in their respective departments rather than being relegated.
