Public Hearing: Stakeholders commend Kwara Assembly on water, FOI bill

Kwara State House of Assembly, the Tenth Legislature has been applauded for its commitment to transparency and promotion of good governance.

This was the submission of the majority at the public hearing conducted by the House on the Water User Association and Freedom of Information bills that the lawmakers are currently legislating on.

The Speaker of the House, Rt. Engr. Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, in a remark, commended the participants at the public hearing for their patriotic interest and maintained that the laws being considered are not about the present administration but the Kwara State Government in the past, present, and future.

Rt. Hon. Danladi-Salihu further assured that the House would work with the contributions and suggestions of the public to improve the bill in the interest of every kwarans.

The public hearing, which was conducted at the Committee Room 213 of the Assembly Complex, Ilorin,, began with the Water User Association bil,l, which seeks to manage, operate, te, and maintain the irrigation infrastructure to provide water for its members and to collect and retain fees for the operation, maintenance, expansion and improvement.

Thereafter, the FOI bill also seeks to make public records and information more freely available, provide for public access to public records and information, and protect public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest,t, and the protection of personal privacy,cy, among others.

At the public hearing, especially on the FOI, the majority of the stakeholders spoke in favor of the bill and supported its passage in the public interest; they commended the Kwara State House of Assembly and the Governor of Kwara State for bringing these important bills at this time.

Experts, professionals, and opinion leaders present did justice to provide useful insights that are germane to fine-tuning the bills to serve the intended purposes.

Opinions, suggestions, and recommendations of the stakeholders were well taken and harmonized to give the bills needed and necessary improvements.

Stakeholders present at the public hearing on water and Freedom of Information bills were representatives of the relevant government agencies, NBA, NUJ, NLC, TUC, PDP, ENETSUD, among others.

Credit: CPS to the Rt. Hon. Speaker