The Osun State Government has reinforced its commitment to transparency and accountability in public finance by publishing detailed reports on its budgetary performance, according to Governor Ademola Adeleke’s spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed.
Rasheed said the public posting of state revenue and expenditure demonstrates openness and confirms that the administration has nothing to conceal about state finances. He also criticised opposition activists for relying on public budgetary reports to create misleading narratives.
“A government that announces its revenue and expenditure is showing honesty, openness, and responsibility to the citizenry,” Rasheed stated.
He cited Governor Adeleke’s disclosure of security-related expenditures as an example. “When the Governor said his expenditure on state security follows due process, the details were published in the budgetary performance reports, categorised for clarity. This confirms that all security-related spending complies with state finance laws,” he said.
Rasheed explained that Osun does not operate ‘security votes’ in the sense commonly understood in Nigeria. “There is no slush fund to be spent outside the purview of due process and public finance regulations. Every security-related expenditure is officially accounted for,” he added.
He noted that the scale of security spending is influenced by factors such as inflation, operational requirements of security agencies, exchange rate fluctuations, communal tensions, expansion of agencies like Amotekun, and new security initiatives. Despite these variables, the government ensures that all spending patterns are publicly available to demonstrate accountability.
For citizens or activists seeking further details, Rasheed pointed to the federally enacted Freedom of Information Act as the appropriate channel for accessing a comprehensive breakdown of expenditures. “It is mischief, laziness, or ignorance to use freely posted budgetary reports to construct false narratives. A government with something to hide would never publish its expenditure profile or participate in the World Bank’s Open Budget Initiative,” he said.
Rasheed concluded by noting that Governor Adeleke has established a record of managing security allocations strictly within the framework of state finance law and public finance regulations. “No amount of misinformation from Osun APC can erase that fact,” he asserted.
The statement was signed by Mallam Olawale Rasheed, Spokesperson to Governor Adeleke.
