Kwara Assembly passes N190bn 2018 budget

By Umar Bayo Abdulwahab

Ilorin

Kwara state Assembly yesterday passed the N190.9 billion 2018 appropriation.
The budget was increased by the lawmakers with about N9 billion as against N181.8 billion presented by governor Abdulfatah Ahmed on November 25.
The legislature had on Wednesday suspended further consideration of the 2018 budget estimates following the failure of the state government to implement the House resolution directing it to compel the management of the state Polytechnic to maintain the status quo ante on the tuition fees.
The state lawmakers had, in its resolution of December 13, asked the state government to direct the management of the state Polytechnic, Ilorin to revert to old tuition fees.
However, in what appeared to be swift response to the lawmakers’ directive, the state governor yesterday restated his preparedness to revisit the school fees of the Polytechnic.
The governor disclosed this in a statement yesterday through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Dr Muyideen Akorede.
The statement quoted the governor to have pledged on Tuesday while on a radio programme ‘Governor Explains’ to revisit the tuition of Kwara Poly.
Ahmed noted that, in line with his determination to resolve the school fees controversy, a committee comprising members of the House and officials of relevant ministries, had been set up to conduct a forensic investigation into the tuition fees and submit their report by January 5, 2018 in response to the Assembly’s earlier resolution on the fee issue.