Spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, has said the consistent publication of Osun State’s budgetary performance is proof of the government’s dedication to transparency and accountability in public finance.
Rasheed, in a statement on Friday, described opposition criticisms of the reports as baseless, noting that any administration willing to openly share its revenue and expenditure has “nothing to hide.”
“A government that publishes its income and spending is demonstrating honesty, openness, and responsibility to the people,” he said.
According to him, Governor Adeleke’s explanation that security spending follows due process is backed by figures already captured in the state’s budgetary performance documents. He stressed that Osun does not run a “security vote” in the usual Nigerian sense, but instead accounts for all security-related expenses within existing financial regulations.
Rasheed added that fluctuations in security expenditure are influenced by factors such as inflation, exchange rate instability, operational demands of agencies, communal clashes, and the expansion of outfits like Amotekun. Despite these variables, he said, the government ensures spending patterns remain public to reinforce accountability.
He noted that citizens or opposition activists who desire further details can obtain them through the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. “It is laziness or mischief to twist publicly available budget reports into false narratives,” Rasheed argued. “A government with something to hide would never post its expenditure profile, nor sign up to the World Bank’s open budget initiative.”
The spokesperson further asserted that Governor Adeleke stands out nationally as one of the few leaders managing security expenditure strictly within the limits of state finance laws. “No amount of misinformation can take that record away,” he said.
