Governor’s Spending: Adeleke’s Prudent Management of Osun Resources

By Olalekan Badmus (Phoenix)

In recent time, opposition elements in Osun state, especially of the All Progressives Congress (APC) extraction, have made it a habit to push a wrong impression of profligacy on Governor Ademola Adeleke. A recent example was an article by one Adebayo Adedeji, which attempted to stuck imaginary sense of financial recklessness on Governor Adeleke, conjuring numbers to sell his disjointed narrative.

At the heart of Adedeji’s mischief lies a claim that N44.6 billion was spent on maintaining the governor and his associates in two years. While that claim has no basis in facts, it is important to highlight Adedeji’s penchant for falsehood to drive political agenda, against verifiable evidences. By the record, the expenditure for the Governor’s Office, which I must stress for the umpteenth time, extends beyond Mr. Governor for the 2023 fiscal year, was N15.925 billion.

This amount includes, but not limited to capital expenditure incurred on the renovation of government house and the completion of the VIP lodge, abandoned by the past administration of Governor Oyetola. This was done in fulfillment of Governor Adeleke’s pledge to complete all abandoned projects inherited from past administration with impacting value to the people of Osun. Also, the expenditure of the Governor’s Office covers medical interventions for more than 50,000 residents in the state under the Imole Surgical and Medical Outreach, providing the much needed relief to beneficiaries and contributing to a healthy population.

A closer look at this number, in comparison with surrounding states, deflates Adedeji’s cheap propaganda. In Ekiti state, which is under his political party, the expenditure for the Governor’s Office in the same year, was N21.881 billion, that is about N6 billion more than what was spent in Osun. For Ogun state, the Governor’s Office expenditure for 2023 was N56.619 billion and Lagos state expenditure for the Governor’s Office stood at N46.322 billion, while Oyo state spent N26.187 billion to manage its Governor’s Office in the 2023 fiscal year.

What the above figures highlighted is the cost associated with governance, which I am very sure Adedeji is well aware of but just choose to shy away from, due to political considerations. From the figures above, it was clear that Osun spent the lowest and that goes to show Governor Adeleke’s financial discipline. The only exception was Ondo state which incurred an expenditure of N6.337 billion in 2023 and the reason is not unconnected to the absence of governance in the state for most part of the year under review, due to the prolonged ailment of the then Governor, late Rotimi Akeredolu.

In 2024, while Osun expended N25.495 billion in maintaining its Governor’s Office for the full year, Ekiti state has spent N28.781 billion by the third quarter. For Lagos state, the expenditure incurred by the third quarter of 2024 stood at N35.814 billion while Oyo state has spent N24.617 billion. The actual figure for Ogun state couldn’t be ascertained as the state didn’t upload its budget performance report while Ondo state political crisis overshadowed the 2024 fiscal year performance.

This is where the real problem lies– Adedeji’s desperation to give a wrong idea of Governor Adeleke for political reason appears to always outweigh his sense of objectivity. This was exactly the motivation of his ludicrous claim of profligacy against the Adeleke administration because the financial records, when compared with other states, especially in the Southwest, tells a different narrative.

A similar outlandish claim made by Adedeji was that the Adeleke administration spent N743 million on obligations to pensioners. It is either that Adedeji does not know how to interpret a budget or lost to his usual mischief because the record clearly showed that the total expenditure incurred by the Bureau of Public Service Pension for the year 2024 totaled N16.36 billion. This amount was almost more than what the APC administration, particularly under Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, spent on obligations to pensioners in two full years.

The most funniest thing about Adedeji was his wrong notion on the funding for agriculture under Governor Adeleke. For Adedeji, N5.8 billion spent on agriculture and food security by the Adeleke administration was unimpressive, however, that amount was more than the N3.944 billion that the Oyetola administration spent on agriculture for the entire four years of his administration.

Another of his ridiculous claims was on the purchase of vehicles to aid discharge activities of the state government. Oftentimes, I struggle to understand the basis of Adedeji’s criticism about governance in Osun State under Governor Ademola Adeleke.

Adedeji is well aware of the deliberate looting of government assets, including vehicles by officials of past administration of APC in Osun state, yet he attempts to re-write history for political agenda (not the first time). Had Adedeji been a good student of economics and understood the concept of cost pull inflation, as is currently being experienced in Nigeria, he wouldn’t have questioned the rationale behind purchasing an item such as vehicles, for an amount higher than earlier envisioned or budgeted.

I am not sure what Adedeji is saying is that Permanent Secretaries should have no vehicles to conduct official businesses or that Commissioners should have no mobility to discharge their duties because past officials in the government of his party went away with most of what should serve those purposes.

Olalekan Badmus (Phoenix) is the Special Assistant (Digital Media) to Governor Adeleke and writes from Osogbo, Osun State.