Adeleke and his government of profligacy – By Adebayo Adedeji

• Spent N12bn on motor vehicles in two years, N6bn on agriculture

The 2024 budget performance report of the Osun State Government, released yesterday, highlights the administration’s reckless spending of public funds. According to the report, a staggering N44.6 billion was spent on maintaining the governor and his associates from 2023 to 2024.

A closer examination of the financial records reveals that only N5.8 billion was expended on agriculture and food security in two years, while a whopping N11.9 billion was spent on purchasing vehicles for politicians and government officials. This excessive spending is evident in the 2023 original budget, where N1.2 billion was initially earmarked for vehicle purchases, but the actual expenditure ballooned to N3.2 billion, representing a nearly 300% increase.

Similarly, in 2024, the projected budget for vehicle purchases was N5.4 billion, but the actual expenditure soared to N8.7 billion. These figures can be verified on page 30 of the Osun State Budget Performance for 2023 and page 44 of the 2024 Budget Performance report.

The report also reveals that key sectors of the economy are underfunded. Despite generating N21.5 billion from the education sector in 2024, the government only spent N28 billion on the sector, falling short of the N37 billion allocated in the 2024 budget. The health sector also suffered, with only N18 billion spent, compared to the N25 billion budgeted.

Furthermore, the government failed to meet its obligations to pensioners, releasing only N743 million, approximately 7% of the N11.35 billion planned for offsetting pension and gratuity arrears. The government also fell short on Social Benefits (i.e pension, gratuity), releasing only N7.6 billion out of the N20 billion allocated.

One wonders while the expenditure for the office of the governor in 2024, N25.4 billion, surpassed the combined expenditures for health, agriculture, sports, youth and women affairs in the same year.

My next writing will delve into the commercialization of education in Osun State, where students of University of Ilesa, for instance, are forced to cough out N1.5 million as school fees in a year, just as attempts will be made to report Adeleke administration’s revenue generation from gold mining, where pitiable N58 million was realized in 2024 as against N15 billion projected for the year.