- PDP claims the audited report released by the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola has evidence of alleged financial recklessness
- The Osun state commissioner for information, Adelani Baderinwa, dismisses the allegations of the opposition party as baseless
- IGP Idris urges Nigerians to support Buhari’s anti-corruption war
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the EFCC and the ICPC to probe the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola for alleged financial recklessness.
The Punch reports that the PDP chairman in Osun state, Soji Adagunodo, at a press conference in Osogbo on Thursday, May 10, alleged that there were glaring evidence of financial recklessness in the audited report of the state government which the European Union transparency initiative forced them to release to the public.
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The party said: “For example, the Office of the Governor which is principally made up of the Governor, Deputy Governor, Secretary to the State Government and the Chief of Staff, expended a sum of N6,367,390,350.64 in one year. This was higher than the entire money spent on education, agriculture and health in the same year.
“Of this figure, the sum of over N5bn and N50m was spent on overheads in the office of the governor. This was an increase of almost 400 per cent on the sum of N1.2bn spent on the same overheads in 2015. The question is what could be responsible for this astronomical rise in the overhead cost of running the Office of the Governor within 12 months? How much of this money was funnelled into private pockets and on political patronage?”
Citing instances of alleged reckless spending, the PDP said huge money was spent by the governor on running his office happened in a year when the state got zero allocation and borrowed over N26bn.
According to the party, the audited report showed that the governor spent over N276m on the improvement of his office infrastructure in 2016, while a paltry sum of N1 .18m was spent on the improvement of infrastructure in the hospitals in the 30 local government areas and the Ife East area office in the same year.
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It said: “Another sad revelation coming out from very credible government sources was the approval and payment of an additional sum of N1bn as variation cost on the construction of three prototype high schools in Iwo, Osogbo and Ilesa.
“Even though this contract was awarded in 2013 and some of these schools were inaugurated in 2016, the Aregbesola administration approved an upward review of the contract sum from N4. 05bn to N5.002bn in January 2018. This, to all intents and purposes, is contrary to the provisions of extant financial regulations and principles of accountability.”
However, the commissioner for information, Adelani Baderinwa, has dismissed the allegations of the opposition party as baseless.
He said the success of the tour of the federal constituencies recorded by the governor was the reason why the PDP was coming out with the said allegations.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, has called on Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption to put the country back on the path of greatness.
Idris made the call at the customary dinner organised for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detective superintendent course (7) 2017/2018 at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna, The news Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
He said the feat achieved by the EFCC with the recovery of looted funds under the leadership of the acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu, could not have been possible without the support of the president.
Governor Rauf Aregbesola Interview: 'State of Osun' is correct (Exclusive ) | Naij.com TV
Source: Naija.ng
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