The Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Monday presented a budget of N80.774 billion to the state House of Assembly made up of only seven Peoples Democratic, PDP, members.

All 19 members of the House who belong to the All Progressive Congress, APC, have been on self-exile from the state for weeks, alleging oppression by the governor. The floor of the House was empty as the governor presented the budget but the galleries were filled to capacity as politicians, traditional rulers and others came to witness the ceremony.

Presented under tight security, the 2015 budget represents 77.7 per cent of the 2014 budget of N103.8 billion presented by ousted governor Kayode Fayemi. A total of N48, 717 billion (about 60 per cent) is for recurrent expenditure while N31.956 billion goes to capital projects..

Governor Fayose explained that pruning down the budget which he tagged “Budget of Reality” was to allow the government live within its means and not “decorate the budget with unrealistic figures.”

Reacting to the presentation, the APC in the state said Fayose breached the Constitution by presenting the budget to seven lawmakers in a 26 – member House.

In a statement released by the state publicity secretary of the party, Taiwo Olatubosun, said that Fayose should follow the legal steps spelt out in the Constitution in the governance and financial management of the state.

‘’Monday’s illegal sitting with a full house of thugs was a new dimension to the constitutional breaches and lawlessness by the Executive,” the party stated, adding that the “standard practice is for the governor to present the state budget to members in full session while the public sit at the gallery to watch proceedings. But in this instance, thugs intermingled with the lawmakers in a plenary in such a way that you cannot differentiate a lawmaker from a thug.”

Olatubosun urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, to beam its searchlights on the financial goings on in the state to prevent reckless management of the state’s resources.

However, the governor’s media assistant, Lere Olayinka, dismissed the APC reaction and asked the party’s lawmakers to return to the state to perform their legislative duties.

Olayinka said that the lawmakers could not hold the state to ransom and warned that they might lose their seats if they continue to stay away from their duties, reminding them that ““by the rule of the House of Assembly, each member must attend the House sittings for 181 days in a year.”