Delta House of Assembly Committee on Housing, Women Affairs, Humanitarian Support Services, Girl Child Entrepreneurship has urged Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to be prudent in managing funds accrued to them.
The Chairman of the Committee, Mrs Bridget Anyafulu, made the call when she led members of the committee on an oversight visit to the tripartite ministries under her purview on Thursday in Asaba.
The lawmaker also stressed the need for the ministries to make judicious use of their budgetary allocations for the implementation of policies and programmes of the State government’s ”MORE Agenda’.
”I urge them to be prudent and make sure they make use of every monies budgeted for their ministries so that the people of the State will see that the Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori’s led administration has been able to carry every citizens along, ”she said.
Anyafulu, who is the member representing Oshimili South Constituency, said that the visit was part of the constitutional responsibility in carrying out oversight functions on the MDAs to ensure they perform optimally.
”It is our constitutional duty to make sure we carry out oversight function. And this is one of the reasons we are elected into the State House of Assembly.
”We have been able to meet with the three ministries involved in our committee to make sure that monies budgeted in different perspective is judiciously used.
”And we are happy what they have done and we have been able to also look into their challenges and see how we can forge ahead, ” she said.
Anyafulu, who commended the ministries for the implementation of policies and programmes of the State government’s ‘MORE Agenda’, and specifically lauded the Ministry for Women Affairs and Social Development for the successes recorded in the last one year.
She urged the ministry to capture major challenges facing the ministry in the next budget.
Anyafulu and her committee, who were also at the Ministry of Housing, enjoined the ministry to go into Public Private Partnership (PPP) in tackling the challenge of housing deficit in the state, saying that the ”government alone cannot do it all”.
The committee also commended the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Community Support Services and Girl Child Entrepreneurship for the successful launch of the ‘MORE Grant Scheme for petty traders, artisans’ in the state.
She urged the ministry to set up a comprehensive social register for the poor and vulnerable in the state for effective implementation of government’s programmes and policies.
On his part, the Commissioner for Housing, Mr Godknows Angele, who highlighted some of the programmes of the state government in addressing the issues of housing in the state, also listed some challenges bedeviling the ministry.
He solicited the support of the Committee in mitigating these challenges, especially in granting approval during the next budget preparation.
Also, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Pat Ajudua, and her Humanitarian Affairs counterpart, Ms Orode Uduaghan, while reeling out the activities of their respective ministries, appealed for more support from the State Legislature in addressing their concerns.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Anyafulu was accompanied on the visit by members of the committee, including Mrs Marilyn Okowa-Daramola (PDP – Ika North East), Mr Augustine Uroye (PDP- Warri South I) and Mr Bernard Odior, the Chief Whip of the Assembly.