The Ogun State House of Assembly today held Stakeholders’ fora on three bills including the State Mortgage and Foreclosure Law, 2019, State Audit Law, 2019 and State Public Health Law, 2020 as parts of efforts towards harnessing the inputs of relevant stakeholders in the Housing, Health and Auditing sectors to put in place all-inclusive legislations in the sectors.
Declaring the Fora open, the Speaker Rt. Hon. Olakunle Oluomo stated that the gathering became expedient for the Assembly to fashion out laws that could stand the test of time, with a view to contributing to the economic development of the State.
Presenting their inputs on the Mortgage and Foreclosure Law, stakeholders including the Managing Director, Gateway Mortgage Bank, Mr. Wale Osinsanya, the Vice Chairman, State branch of the Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyor and Valuers, Salmon Solanke and the Director of Legal Services, OPIC, Adeyinka Owopeju described the bill as a right legal framework to the nation’s housing sector which had been facing challenges, while calling for more public-private- partnership approach towards addressing housing deficits.
On the State Public Health Law, 2020, Contributors including the Former Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olakunle Salako requested that the bill needed to reflect modern practices in the health sector with a view to prioritizing the regulation, prevention and control of non communicable and infectious diseases, positing that the bill remained a model for other States in the nation.
Taking their turn to speak on the State Audit Law, 2019, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Legal Matters, Fuye Osofisan, the Auditor General for State, Sunday Olubanjo and his Local Government counterpart, Ajani Mulero and the representative of the Nigerian Bar Association, Kayode Akinremi, applauded the ingenuity of the ninth Assembly for proposing the bill that aimed at ensuring administrative independence of the auditing practices in the State Public Service, with a call for the engagement of private legal firms to boost the operational efficiency of the audit commission, when established.
Responding, Speaker Oluomo assured the stakeholders of due consideration of all memoranda and inputs, saying that the present legislature was irrevocably committed to proposing more private-membership bills to promote good governance and quality service delivery to the resident of the State.
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He stated that the Public Health Law, 2020 was meant to complement the cardinal programmes of the present administration through a legislation aimed at setting machineries in motion to bridge the gap between the old and modern practises of public health managements in the State, while the Mortgage and Foreclosure Law was targeted at reducing fraud in the mortgage business and make funds available to further expand mortgage industry in the State.
Explaining the basis for the enactment of the State Audit Law, 2019, the Speaker stated that the law was meant to promote transparency, accountability and due process in the running of government business.
