PDP asks EFCC to probe 2016 audited report of Osun 

Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to probe the 2016 audited report of the state government.
The party attributed inability of Governor Rauf Aregbesola to pay workers salary to the “wasteful spending” of the Governor as evidenced in the said audited report.
The State Chairman of PDP, Hon Soji Adagunodo, stated this while addressing a press conference in Osogbo, the state capital on Thursday.
According to the party, a 2016 audit report on the account of the state revealed that the Governor spent a whooping sum of over 6 billion Naira as over-head cost in his office at a time when the state workers were groaning under the yoke of half and no salary.
“The office of the governor which is principally made up of the Governor, Deputy Governor, Secretary to the State Government and 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 five billion and fifty million naira was spent on overhead in the office of the governor. This was an increase of almost 400% on the sum of 1.2 billion naira spent on the same over-head in 2015.  The question is what could be responsible for this astronomical rise in overhead cost of running the office of the governor within 12months? How much of this money was funneled into private pockets and on political patronage?”
Adagunodo stated that it was in the same year that Osun was ranked 4th in the list of states with the highest domestic debt in Nigeria, saying “the other three states being Lagos, Delta and Akwa -Ibom who are very high earner from the federation account and internally generated revenue.
“Other financial irregularities discovered in the report according to the PDP chairman include the building of a website for over 10 million Naira as well as the spending of over 276 million Naira on the maintenance of infrastructure in the Governor’s office while a paltry sum of over 1 million Naira was spent on the maintenance of infrastructure in all the health institutions in the state.
“Though the state received more than 11.74 billion Naira as Paris Club refund in 2016, the state remained heavily in default of payment of workers entitlements while the Governor was spending over 500 million Naira on his luxurious life-style every month.
The PDP chairman also disclosed that in January this year, Aregbesola administration approved the payment of about 1 billion Naira upward review of a school building contract which was commissioned in 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari contrary to financial regulations and the principles of accountability.
The PDP attributed the wide-spread dilapidation of roads, lack of drugs and medical equipment in health centres as well as other infrastructural decay in the state to what it called the profligate spending pattern of the Governor as well as utter disregard to the principles of accountability and transparency in governance since Ogbeni Aregbesola came on board in November, 2010.
“Another sad revelation coming out from very credible government sources was the approval and payment of an additional sum of 1 billion Naira as variation cost on the construction of 3 prototype high schools in Iwo, Osogbo and Ilesa. Even though this contract was awarded in 2013 and some of these schools have been commissioned as at 2016, the Aregbesola administration approved an upward review of the contract sum from 4. 05 billion naira to 5.002 billion naira in January 2018. This, to all intent and purpose is contrary to the provisions of extant financial regulations and principles of accountability.
“In the meantime, we call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other Anti-graft agencies to beam their searchlight on the accounts of Osun state Government with a view to ascertaining the true reasons why a once buoyant state has suddenly turned into a most insolvent one.

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