THE outgoing Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, has said he is leaving behind cash of over N14 billion for his successor Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Oyetola, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said this in a farewell message released late Saturday, November 26, ahead of the end of his four-year tenure on November 27.
According to him, in addition to the N14 billion cash, another N8 billion is expected between December and January from performance in the World Bank’s States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
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He added that another $72 million is RAMP 3, NG-CARES, Nigeria for Women Project and Ease of Doing Business.
“These are earned, based on performance. And we have indeed performed to earn them. It was part of the same performance that earned us the award of Best Governor on Efficiency of Public Expenditure and TOP Performer on Domestic Revenue Mobilisation by the World Bank’s States’ Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability, SFTAS, recently,” Oyetola said.
He further claimed his administration grew the state’s IGR from a little above N10 billion in 2018 to N20 billion in 2022.
“From a little above N10 billion in 2018, we have been able to grow the State Internally Generate Revenue by N20billion, just as our performance in the World Bank’s States’ Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability has continued to earn us accolades and financial benefits.
“In 2018, before we came into office, Osun was placed 32nd on the fiscal sustainability index, finishing just ahead of Taraba, Plateau, Adamawa and Kogi states.
“However, by the latest ranking in 2021, we have climbed to the 19th place on the index, as we are now ranked 13th out of 36 states of the federation.
“As we end our first term, be rest assured that Osun is more stable economically than we met it in 2018, and it remained the most peaceful state in the country under our leadership,” he said
Oyetola told the people of the state that he would be stepping aside as a law-abiding citizen, adding that the Osun governorship election that produced Ademola Adeleke was still being challenged in court.
He stressed that he is looking forward to governing Osun again, as he anticipated victory from the court.
“I recall how the journey began four years ago; how, by your belief in me and your conviction in the plans and programmes of our Party, you exercised your right to vote for me.
“As we draw the curtain on this first tenure, we are convinced that we neither reneged on our promises nor disappointed you. We kept faith with you and maintained fidelity with our electoral promises. It was our wish to continue to serve you, but we are constrained by the outcome of the July 16 governorship election, which we are already challenging in court.
“As a law-abiding citizen and government, we are stepping aside to allow the law to take its course.
“However, we look forward to continuing to serve you in no distant future. We have absolute trust in God that we shall be back soon, as we have implicit trust and confidence in the judiciary to do justice in the case before it.
“We are confident that this period of temporary political eclipse shall pass. The sun shall shine again, brighter and warmer, and the sustainable development and participatory governance that we enthroned, which have been applauded by local and international organisations, shall be restored and put on a surer and better footing,” Oyetola said.
He listed some infrastructure and economic development successes in his first tenure and gave his administration a high score.
“We proved that infrastructure and economic development are doable in a depressed economy and that stagnated development in a struggling economy is a product of intellectual laziness, dearth of creativity, shortage of innovation and lack of political will.
“The laudable and people-centred projects we were able to deliver include the feeding of 30,000 vulnerable persons in Osun on a monthly basis through the Osun Food Support Scheme and financial support for the aged and widows; opening up of the mining sector that attracted big investors to the state; reforming of the educational sector, including the recruitment of 2,500 teachers; review of the single school uniform regime among others in line with the demand of the people; renovation of school buildings, distribution of educational materials to our pupils, provision of free education and free meals to them as well as training and re-training of our teachers to provide quality education for our children to enhance their performance as leaders of tomorrow.
“We constructed, reconstructed and rehabilitated rural and township roads to open up our rural areas, help our farmers to transport their produce to the market and generally bring equitable development to our state.”
Oyetola also claimed his administration restored the lost glory of the civil service and ensured that workers’ salaries were not only promptly paid but continued to pay minimum wage despite the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added: “We never toyed with the security of our people as we cooperated with other states in the South-West to set up Amotekun to support the conventional security agencies to further secure our state.
“We also launched the Osun Youth Policy Document to take care of the present and future of our younger generation, just as we injected over N2 billion into the economy through the Osun Microcredit Agency to empower our market men and women.”
The outgoing governor claimed the State did not take any bank loan facility during his tenure.
“For four years, we did not take any bank loan facility. But we benefited from the N3 billion monthly intervention from the Federal Government to all the states for six months to cushion the effect of deductions of budget support facility and salary bailout accessed by the previous administration, just as we have paid N97 billion from the total debt we inherited in 2018.”
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance