A foremost sociopolitical movement under Osun State All Progressives Congress, the Osun Progressive Vanguard, has criticized the Adeleke-led administration for its poor fiscal performance and administrative inefficiency, which they claim have taken the state backwards.
The group’s criticism was based on the dwindling Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), poor value-added tax generation, and a flawed budgeting system, which they describe as hallmarks of the current administration.
This was contained in a press statement jointly signed by the group’s coordinator, Oluwole Fashoyin, and publicity secretary, Miftau Adebowale, which was released to journalists on Friday in Osogbo, the state capital.
The statement read: “Since fiscal performance is a crucial Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in governance or public policy to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of a government’s financial management and decision-making, we are concerned by the blatantly poor revenue collection, expenditure mismanagement, budget imbalance, and fiscal indiscipline that have become the trademark of the ineffectual, unproductive, and wasteful government of Adeleke.
“A cursory look at the available records of Osun’s fiscal performance since the commencement of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s tenure in November 2022 reveals a bleak, sordid, and ignoble status, placing the state among those with poor fiscal parameters due to the abysmal and reckless leadership style that characterizes the current administration. The same Osun State was fiscally healthy and viable under the previous administration before Governor Adeleke took office.
“It is saddening to see Osun under Governor Adeleke in a continuous slide, steadily slipping backwards from the stable and secure progress it achieved in fiscal performance under previous administrations. The state’s ranking in IGR collection dropped from 16th in 2022 to 20th in 2023, while neighboring Ekiti State, which had been far behind, recorded a 75% growth, jumping from 26th position in 2022 to 15th in 2023.
“Worse still, Ekiti State, with a population of around half of Osun’s, recorded 29.58 billion naira in Value-added Tax generation, compared to Osun’s 14.79 billion naira in 2024. Such poor fiscal performance reeks of Governor Adeleke’s inability to pilot the state’s affairs to the required greatness, and his retrogressive policies could take the state about 10 years to salvage. As a matter of fact, this reprehensible situation can’t be unexpected in a state where revenue remittances of key ministries like that of Environment Ministry were uncovered to have been allegedly paid into bank accounts of private individuals, depicting the height of financial leakages and malfeasances going in the Adeleke-led administration.
“Highly distasteful is the fact that the same domestically unproductive Adeleke-led administration, living fat on humongous Federal Government handouts, is notoriously known for its fiscal indiscipline, spending billions of naira on jamborees, overhead costs, and unproductive projects. For instance, the outrageous 19.3 billion naira spent in the governor’s office within just nine months, leading to a total of 38 billion naira expended in the governor’s office alone in 2023, far more than the budgeted amount for the entire year. All these expenditures were at the detriment of other critical sectors such as education, health, agriculture, and commerce, which have been left in a sorry state.
“Consequently, it is glaring that the Osun helmsman is complacent about development, as he has not come with a populist agenda to serve the best interests of the masses within the purview of engendering socioeconomic development, but rather to serve the interests of his few aristocratic class. This is in addition to a lack of ideas needed to position the state on the path of economic prosperity.
“However, we admonish the dancing governor to, at least for the interest of the state’s patrimony, eschew the euphoria of merriment for some time and take up a mandatory public policy and governance tutoring class from his brother governor in Ekiti State, who has astoundingly turned things around with his magic wand. Maybe that could help bring a sigh of relief to Osun State,” the statement concluded.
