Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has described the N11.5 billion allocated to the state Ministry of Finance as a security vote and the N250 million sitting allowance in the 2025 budget as a normal tradition.
While justifying the allocation, the governor emphasised that such allocations were made during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led administration in the state.
Aiyedatiwa, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Strategic Communication, Allen Sowore, argued that the sitting allowance for the ministry will take care of sittings in the ministry during the fiscal year.
The PDP had, in a statement, berated the governor over his continued silence regarding the alleged padding of the 2025 budget.
According to the Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kennedy Peretei, the development exudes insensitivity and financial recklessness, particularly with the plan to procure an SUV worth N230 million for the Commissioner of Finance.
The opposition party, which called for the immediate sack of the Commissioner for Finance, urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to intervene and lamented that “a government that presides over a huge infrastructural deficit, a totally collapsed healthcare delivery system, and unacceptable falling educational standards can ill afford the financial recklessness of the Commissioner for Finance in our state.”
The governor’s aide maintained that it was, therefore, hypocritical and deceptive for PDP members—who established these budgetary practices—to now turn around and criticise them.
He added, “It has been a long-standing budgetary tradition in Ondo State to domicile contingency funds, security votes, committee and commission expenses, and honorariums under the Ministry of Finance. A review of budgets from 2007 to 2013—when the PDP was in power—shows that the same method was used.
“For instance, in 2007, 2012, and 2013, the subheads ‘Contingency,’ ‘Security Vote,’ ‘Committee and Commission,’ and ‘Honorarium’ appeared on pages 368, 399, and 405, respectively, of the approved budgets for those years. These allocations are categorised as ‘state-wide votes,’ not exclusive allocations to the Ministry of Finance, as the PDP misleadingly suggests.
“The government makes provisions for all allowances—sitting, travel, and other expenses—for members of committees, panels of inquiry, or commissions that may be established within the fiscal year.
“The budget is merely an estimate. The government is bound by the state’s procurement laws and will not purchase a vehicle above its market value. Since no vehicle has been purchased yet, dwelling on estimated figures is unnecessary.”
Meanwhile, there has been an outcry in the state over the development, with residents fuming that the governor was trying to justify illegalities with his stance on the budget.
According to PDP chieftain, Wande Ajayi, you claim it’s a long-standing budgetary tradition to allocate security votes funds under the Ministry of Finance. Fascinating. Yet, tradition doesn’t equate to propriety. EFCC seems to agree, as they’re currently investigating this very allocation. Perhaps it’s time to revisit these ‘traditions’ that raise red flags.
He added, “On the N250 million for honorarium and sitting allowances, ‘statement of intention,’ you say? Indeed, the intention appears to be lavish spending, which this government is trying hard to make us believe is its mission. Allocating a quarter of a billion naira for honorariums and allowances in a state grappling with infrastructural deficits and a collapsed healthcare system is, at best, tone-deaf.
“The audacity to defend the N230 million for a single SUV as an estimate and that procurement laws will prevent overpayment is quite baffling for those of us who hold you in high esteem. Meanwhile, recent expenditures by ODSG tell a different story. In 2023, it purchased vehicles for lawmakers, with each car costing about N19 million. Spending N230 million on a single SUV for the Commissioner for Finance seems exorbitant in comparison.”
On his part, Damilola Oladele stated that every time there’s a long note on defence, what’s the governor doing differently?
He added, “Ekiti State has overtaken Ondo State big time. We are struggling to develop a major city in Ondo, there is no real-time investment in agriculture, there is no youth empowerment program, many primary schools have no teachers and are dilapidating, mega schools have no renovation plan, and some roofs are even pulling off, yet there is no action.”
