Osun State Government has revealed that the offices of the Governor and Secretary to the State Government were allocated N702 million for meals and entertainment in 2024.
It, however, refuted claims that N11 billion was allocated as entertainment funds to the said offices.
Addressing journalists during the 2024 budget analysis at the Ministry of Finance building, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Professor Moruf Adeleke, said only N600 million was earmarked for meals and entertainment for the office of the governor.
He added that meals and entertainment for the office of the Secretary to the State Government got about N102 million against the N11 billion being spread by some individuals for the two offices, and stated that the N11 billion was the total recurrent expenditure for the office of the governor and that of the SSG.
“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,” he said.
Meanwhile, Professor Adeleke disclosed that out of the 273.9 billion 2024 budget, education sector was allocated N38.9 billion, making 14.21 per cent, infrastructure sector got N57.2 billion, which is 20.89 per cent, and human capital development sector got 39.2 billion, which is 14.34 per cent of the total budget.
The Commissioner added that N24.2 billion was allocated to governance and administration sector, which is 8.85 per cent of the total budget; the health sector got N23.1 billion, or 8.45 per cent, while the agriculture sector got 1.39 per cent, making N3.8 billion.
