Governor of Osun State, Sen Ademola Adeleke has shed more light on his management of state resources including palliative measures initiated by his administration and those supported by the Federal Government.
Reacting to the demands of A Civil Society Organisation in the State, on the accountability of the 2bn and other palliatives given to states to cushion the effect of subsidy removal policy.
According to the statement signed by the Governor’s spokesperson on Tuesday, stated that The Governor has embraced openness and transparency.
It further stated that commentators should avail themselves of critical facts and figures instead of twisting and falsifying publicly verifiable details about state governance.
The statement reads: “On palliative distribution in Osun State, we urge the civil society to always engage in thorough field review before taking positions especially as most of the questions raised could have been answered either through desk research or direct freedom of Information request to the relevant government agencies.
“Rice distribution was handled by a non-governmental committee chaired by Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria and populated by representatives of various non-governmental groups. The inauguration of the committee and their activities were widely covered by the media.
“As for the N2 Billion palliative expenditure, we urge the group to officially contact the government if it has legal fulfillment to do so within the framework of the Freedom of Information Act especially as the group has shown mischief and refusal to accept details severally released by the government on the administration of palliative measures in the state.
“Ongoing in Osun are multiple government programmes which have at its core palliative interventions such as the wage awards for pensioners and workers that is going to run for six months, sustenance of payment of half salary and pension debt inherited from previous government,
“the three billion naira plus cooperative loans for artisans and small businesses, the soft medical programmes like the free medical surgeries for pensioners, expansion of free grants to the poor of the poor in Osun state and expected delivery of new buses to widen transport access and affordability.
“In the interest of educated discourse, It may interest the group to note that Osun is spending far above the said two billion naira which is a loan to states and which the Federal Government has even asked the state governments to start refunding.
“It was also false to assert that the Governor has added the N2 billion to the N100 billion infrastructure fund as the state has spent far above the N2 billion in service of the needs and aspirations of her people in this hard time
“As to what Osun is doing with allocations to the state, we hasten to remind the group that there is an elected government in place with a mandate to govern and deliver on good governance within statutory structures and platforms and with appropriation laws to which all are bound.
“The group can reach the public account committee of the House of Assembly for the annual public account report or take hold of the 2024 budgetary act to read how state funds are allocated across sectors and projects”, the statement stated.
We urge the group to read of the state Governor’s plan on food security which he has presented at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and for which he has empanelled a committee chaired by the Commissioner for Agriculture.
“On issues concerning the Osun mining sector, we will invite the group to a forthcoming stakeholders’ forum on Osun mining reform”, the statement ended.
