The Osun House of Assembly, on Tuesday, confirmed Mr Isiaq Awotunde as the state’s new Auditor General for Local Government.

Awotunde before his confirmation was Deputy Auditor General (Operations) for Local Government.

Gov. Ademola Adeleke appointed Awotunde and forwarded his name to the House of Assembly for confirmation following the retirement of his predecessor, Mr Emmanuel Kolapo.

Mr Adewale Egbedun, Speaker of the Osun Assembly, had on April 30, at plenary, read a letter from Gov. Adeleke seeking the confirmation of the appointment of Awotunde as Auditor General for Local Government.

Also during plenary, the Assembly passed the Osun State Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Bill 2024, a law to create a bureau for people with disabilities in the state.

The Osun State Public Political Office Holders Revised Remuneration Package Amendment 2 Bill 2024 was also read for the second time at the sitting.

The House of Representatives, has expressed worry over continual rise in the price of cement, saying it is detrimental to the entire economy.

The Deputy Speaker, Rep. Benjamin Kalu said this at an investigative hearing on Arbitrary Increase in Cement Price in Abuja on Tuesday, organised by the House Joint Committee on Solid Minerals, Industry, Commerce and Special Duties in Abuja.

Kalu said that cement remained a fundamental component in construction of vital infrastructure such as bridges, dams, houses, waterworks, and road.

He said that Nigeria had a housing deficit of 16.9 million going by statistics.

“According to the World Bank, Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, and Abuja, have a 20 per cent rise in housing needs yearly.”

He said that the total output in the formal housing sector was estimated at not more than 100,000 units.

The lawmaker added that bridging the gap required affordable and accessible cement prices for both the government and the private sector.

He said while factors such as exchange rates had contributed to rising prices of commodities, it was encouraging to see the value of naira increasing sharply against dollar.

“Notably, the naira has shown remarkable strength against the dollar in past weeks, and Fitch Ratings, a global credit rating agency, recently revised Nigeria’s credit outlook to positive from stable.

“We are also dedicated to enacting laws that prevent a recurrence of the factors that led to the current situation,” he said.
Speaking, the Chairman of the committee, Rep. Jonathan Gaza, said the recent hike in the price of cement was worrisome.

‘’Nigeria has high deficit of housing and other infrastructure.

“To close this gap, both government and the private sector must be articulate and deliberate in putting the right policies and parameters in place to encourage development.

“Therefore, should the price of cement which is a major component for infrastructure development continues to soar uncontrollably, the tendency to stifle life out of that sector is high and the consequences very detrimental,” Gaza said.