Governor Bello signing the bills into law

Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi has signed the Kogi State Youth Development Commission, Development Trust Fund and six other Bills into law.

The bills were signed by the governor on Wednesday at the Government House, Lokoja.

The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr Matthew Kolawole; the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, and Mr Mohammed brahim (SAN), were among other dignitaries that witnessed the event.

The governor said that the signing was another milestone in the history of the state, describing it as unprecedented.

“We are signing up to eight bills enacted, some are executive bills, while some are member bills and we are signing them into law,’’ according to him.

He said the bills were basically to improve revenue generation in the state, adding that the state cannot continue to depend on the federation account every month.

“Hence, we must look inward that is why majority of the bills are centred on revenue generation, and others on critical sectors of the demographic in our state, which has to do with youths and sports development.

“We are relatively young and God has made us to be the leaders of today, every government must think of the future of our children and the unborn generation.

“Today, we have signed all the eight bills and next week we hope to continue signing others into law.

“We have never had it this good in the history of the state House of Assembly; we sincerely appreciate the Speaker and principal members of the House.

“This is a demonstration of harmony, synergy, integration and cooperation among these arms of government under our leadership,” he said.

Bello also commended the state Attorney General for painstakingly going through the bills to ensure non-contradiction with the extant laws of the country.

“What I am concern about is to continue to do the work while the wailers continue to wail.

“We will continue to do our best to ensure that we take the state to the next level.

“By the special grace of God, come Jan. 27, 2020, we will invite all of you for our swearing-in for second term,” he said.

Earlier, the Speaker explained that eight bills would be signed into law making it a total of 40 bills that had been passed so far by the current legislature and assented to by the governor.

“We are glad that our bills are not just being passed in the House but are being signed into law.

“Six are executive bills and all of them are geared toward revenue generation.

“The bills would also transform the state in the area of youth development and encourage us to access fund from international donors to our state,” he said.

The bills include Kogi Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency; Kogi Youth Development Commission; Kogi Health Insurance Agency; Mineral Resources Development Agency, and Public Audit Law,
Others are Repeal and re-enact the Kogi Primary Healthcare Development Agency; Enterprise Development Agency, and Kogi Development Trust Fund and other matters connected therewith, 2018.

The Special Adviser to the governor on Legislative Matters, Mr Haruna Yusuf, said the eight bills were for the first batch, while another batch would follow shortly.