Osun Govt speaks on Budget 2023, debunks Sahara Reporters’ publication on Governor Adeleke

The government of Osun state has denied news reports that Governor Ademola Adeleke spent N8 billion in three months, clarifying that the Governor’s office comprises more than seven agencies and departments alongside many government-wide operations and activities.

Describing as laughable the presumption that the Governor’s office stands for Mr. Governor alone, the statement by the Commissioner for Information, Hon Kolapo Alimi noted that the allocation to the Governor’s office stands for capital, the recurrent and overhead cost of all agencies, departments, and units operating within the Governor’s office and with several government-wide responsibilities.

While clearing the Governor of any misdemeanor, the statement noted that the Sahara publication mischievously and falsely attributed expenditure on the refurbishment of government quarters, Imole Medical outreach, salaries and emoluments of staff of several agencies, and other governmental activities as expenses by the Governor.

This is false and mere fabrication arising from deliberate misinterpretation of budget data, the government affirmed, listing several departments under the Governor’s office including the Bureau of Social Services, Office of Sustainable Development Goals, Security Department, Osun Investment Promotion Agency, Osun New Town Development Agency, Osun Signage Agency, Osun Agric and Osun Land bank among others.

Government expenditure across the various departments includes refurbishment of vandalised government quarters, procurement of official vehicles, replacement of vehicles carted away by the previous government, refurbishment of offices of agencies that make up the Office of the Governor which were left in terrible states by the previous administration; provision of funds for the execution of Imole medical outreach series;  provision of funds for emergencies in the welfare of the citizens as individuals and groups.

The N6.01 billion referred to in the publication therefore encompasses the entire expenditures (Personnel, Overhead & Capital) of the Office of the Governor including the agencies and parastatals under it, for the period in question.

The statement posited further that the personnel cost which was a sum of 209m was for the 771 staff of twelve Bureau and Offices under the Office of the Governor while the overhead which was a sum of N4 billion represented the amount spent on acquisition/replacement of vehicles and financing of Imole Medical outreach.

The 1.7Bn on Capital represents the amount spent on the refurbishment of quarters and government offices.

In the same vein, the N800m naira referred to in the publication represents the entire expenditure of the State House of Assembly for the period.

It should be noted that the amount quoted for the refreshments and meals, welfare packages, and publicity and advertising was meant for all the Ministries, departments, and Agencies including all Tertiary Institutions in the State.

Moreso, the fraction spent by the Office of the Governor from these, includes the amount expended on the second phase of Imole Medical Outreach conducted for the three (3) Senatorial Districts of the State.

The Government noted that the details provided above confirmed that the Governor did not spend any money outside his statutory salaries and allowances while the funds in question were mostly the overhead, capital, and personnel costs of agencies and departments under the Governor’s office with government-wide mandate and operations.

While calling on the public to ignore the fake news from Sahara Reporters, the government calls on citizens to avail themselves of the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act for information on government activities.