The Osun State Government has revealed that the governor and secretary to the government’s offices have been allotted N702 million for meals and amusement in 2024.
It further denied accusations that N11 billion had been given as amusement monies to the aforementioned offices.
Professor Moruf Adeleke, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, told journalists during the 2024 budget analysis at the Ministry of Finance building that just N600 million was set aside for meals and amusement for the governor’s office.
He also stated that meals and entertainment for the office of the Secretary to the State Government received about N102 million, as opposed to the N11 billion spread by some individuals for the two offices, and that the N11 billion was the total recurrent expenditure for the governor’s and the SSG’s offices.
According to him:
“The claim that N11 billion was budgeted for the offices of the governor and that of the SSG for meals and entertainment is a blatant lie. It is not correct in any way.
“The office of the governor comprises about seven different agencies, like the office of the deputy governor, the office of the chief of staff, the bureau of general services, bureaus of government house and protocol, and the bureau of parastatals.
“All these sub-agencies are referred to as the office of the governor. That is the entire conglomerate of the office of the governor that was allocated about N8 billion for total recurrent expenditure, out of which only N600 million is for meals and entertainment.
“The Office of the SSG has a total recurrent of about N3 billion. It is that amount that was added to N8 billion to make the N11 billion that they claimed. Only N102 million was allocated for meals and entertainment for the office.”
cc: Vanguard Ng
