The Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, on Wednesday signed the Ekiti State Transition Bill into law, to prevent state governments from abandoning projects initiated by past administrations.
The law is aimed at checking the wanton abandonment of projects “simply because they were not initiated by the incumbent and to avoid successive governments from abandoning government projects”, the governor noted.
The governor, who recently marked one year in office, told reporters in 2018 during his tour of The Gifted Academy built by the administration of ex-governor Ayodele Fayose in Afao Ekiti that abandoning projects inherited from his predecessor would amount to wasting the resources of the state.
Mr Fayemi, also a former governor of the state, said though he disagreed with some of the projects initiated by the Fayose administration, he would not abandon them because that would mean abandoning the resources of the state.
“All the projects left behind by the Oni administration. It was my government that completed some of the roads started by Oni. It was my government that completed Ipoti-Odo Owa-Ila Orangun road, Otun-Osun-Iloro road, Isan-Ilemeso road, we completed the House of Assembly complex. It has always been our intention to see governance in a continuum frame.
“We don’t make discreet compartmentalisation of governance but where we are today, it is inevitable, we have to take a comprehensive look at all projects whether we have the resources to work on them is another matter.
“The important thing is these have been funded by Ekiti money not by a particular governor who embarked on the project. I may disagree with many of the things put in place by my predecessor but I don’t think it is not in my place to abandon them because I am abandoning the resources of the state,” he said.
The governor earlier this year had embarked on the completion of 37 projects initiated by him during his first tenure.
Six other laws
Mr Fayemi also signed six bills passed by lawmakers into law.
The bills include Ekiti State Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law 2019; Ekiti State Fiscal Responsibility Law 2019; Ekiti State Board Of Internal Revenue Law 2019; College of Education, Ikere Ekiti Law, 2019 and Ekiti State College Of Health Sciences and Technology Law, 2019.
Mr Fayemi also received the report of the ‘Aladejana Chieftancy Review Commission of Inquiry’.
