- Expert: Okpebholo Blameless, fault lies With Drafters of the Speech
By Abiola Olawale
In a dramatic scene, Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State found himself grappling with the pronunciation of numerical figures while presenting the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the Edo State House of Assembly.
The house filled with legislators watched intently as he paused and struggled over the figures, creating an awkward scene during the critical legislative process.
The New Diplomat reports that Okpebholo on Tuesday appeared before the House of Assembly in Benin City, Edo State to present a N605 billion appropriation bill.
However, during the presentation, the Governor’s voice was heard shaking and inconsistent.
He said: “The Edo state Appropriation Bill of six billion… 605 billion… 76 million…
“Let me take it again. 506 billion… 605 billion… sorry… 776 billion… sorry, it’s confusing me,” the governor chuckled.
Okpebholo’s admission elicited laughter from the lawmakers.
However, the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, was quick to restore order so the governor could proceed.
Okpebholo finally concluded: “605 billion and details of the budget proposed… proposal for your consideration and approval. Thank you for your kind consideration.”
However, some experts and analysts have argued that the drafters of the Speech made a mistake in not crafting the budget sum in words. “Ordinarily, budget sums are written in words to make it easier to read but I don’t know why they chose to write this in figures,” an analyst explained.
