FOI: Alleged Astronomical Jump In Expenditure – CSO Writes Osun Assembly, Demands Accountability, Transparency

….Questions its 886 million naira spending in 3 months

A civil society organization based in Osogbo, the Centre for Sustained Dialogue has called out the Osun State House of Assembly to demand accountability and transparency on its 3rd quarter expenditure.

This is contained a release signed and personally delivered to Daily Mail by the Center Director of Programme, Comrade Saka Waheed on Wednesday in Osogbo, the State capital.

According to the release, in a letter sent to the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Wale Egbedun, the center requested clarifications on the expenditure of the Assembly in the 2023 3rd quarter which it alleged “show humongous increase in expenditure”.

It raised questions on why the Assembly under the leadership of Hon. Egbedun spent Eight hundred and eighty-six million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand, eight hundred and eighty-two Naira, forty-nine kobo (886,459,882.49) and what warranted such ‘humongous sum’ in 3 months.

The center demanded reason for the ‘sharp jump’ in the expenditure of the House of Assembly from 483,782,812.10 in Quarter 2 2023 and what necessitated the sharp increase of a whooping 402,677,070.39, an average of about 300 million naira monthly for July, August and September.

It also questioned the spending of Twenty-six Million, Six Hundred and Six Thousand, One Hundred and Eighty-nine Naira, eighteen kobo (26,606,189.18) spent by the House of Assembly Service Commission during the same period.

The letter reads in parts:

“We thoroughly digested the Osun State budget performance reports for the past two years and we have returned with a lot of questions to which we seek clarifications. We will take our comparisons from the year 2020.

“For Quarter 3 2020 (July, August, and September), under items 011200300100 and 011200400100, the expenditure of the House of Assembly stood at One hundred and twenty-nine million, five hundred and seventy-four thousand, sixty-four Naira, four kobo (129,574,064.04) and the expenditure for the House of Assembly Service Commission stood at six million, four hundred and forty-one thousand, three hundred and twenty-one Naira, eight kobo (6,441,321,08). These two House of Assembly items ran to a total of one hundred and thirty-six million, fifteen thousand, three hundred and eighty-five naira, forty-eight kobo (136,015,385.48).

“For Quarter 2 2022 (April, May, and June), under items 011200300100 and 011200400100, the expenditure of the House of Assembly stood at two hundred and thirty-five million, three hundred and twenty-seven thousand, seven hundred and twelve Naira, fifty-nine kobo (235,327,712.59) while that of the House of Assembly Service Commission stood at seventeen million, three hundred and fifty-four thousand, five hundred and eighty-one Naira, thirty-seven kobo (17,354,581.37). These two items ran to a total of two hundred and fifty-two million, six hundred and eighty-two thousand, two hundred and ninety-three Naira, ninety-six kobo (252,682,293.96).

“Those figures were under the leadership of your predecessor, Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye, as Speaker of the Assembly.

“A check of the Quarter 3 2023 (July, August, and September) budget performance report, now under your leadership, shows a humongous increase in the expenditure of the House of Assembly that we are struggling to understand, thus necessitating this open letter.

“For Quarter 3, 2023, the Osun State House of Assembly, under item 011200300100, expended a total of Eight hundred and eighty-six million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand, eight hundred and eighty-two Naira, forty-nine kobo (886,459,882.49) while the House of Assembly Service Commission expended twenty-six million, six hundred and six thousand, one hundred and eighty-nine Naira, eighteen kobo (26,606,189.18). These two items run to a total expenditure of Nine hundred and thirteen million, sixty-six thousand, seventy-one Naira, sixty-seven kobo (913,066,071.67).

“For more relevant comparison, the total House of Assembly expenditure for Quarter 3 2022 was Four hundred and ten million, five hundred and fifty-six thousand, two hundred and twenty-nine Naira, ninety-two kobo (410,556,229.92). Quarter 1 2023 was three hundred and eleven million, seven thousand, three hundred and ninety-one Naira, forty-nine kobo (311,007,391.49). We do not want to continue to bore you with the figures, but below are our questions:

“What did the Assembly, under your leadership, spend Eight hundred and eighty-six million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand, eight hundred and eighty-two Naira, forty-nine kobo (886,459,882.49) on? What special projects did your Assembly execute that warranted the expenditure of such humongous sum?

“What did the House of Assembly Service Commission spend twenty-six million, six hundred and six thousand, one hundred and eighty-nine Naira, eighteen kobo (26,606,189.18) on? What is the reason for the sharp jump in the expenditure of the House of Assembly from 483,782,812.10 in Quarter 2 2023? What necessitated the sharp increase of a whooping 402,677,070.39? An expenditure of 886,459,882.49 amounts to an average of 295,486,627.50 MONTHLY, for July, August and September. What necessitated such humongous monthly expense?

“In the spirit of transparency, and invoking the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, we seek to know the breakdown of monthly expenditure of the House of Assembly, including total overhead costs and a breakdown of running costs for your office and the offices of the Members of the House of Assembly.

“We seek to know the nature and description of any ongoing capital project in the House of Assembly, that may necessitate such expenditure as is shown in the Q3 budget performance report.

“We ask that you consider this open letter a sincere search for clarifications about the finances of the House of Assembly. We believe that Osun people deserve to know how their resources are being appropriated and expended.

“We do hope that you will promptly provide these clarifications truthfully and in the spirit of the transparency that you have spoken about several times since becoming Speaker of the Assembly.

“Receive the assurances of our warm regards, as we expect your prompt response to this request.”

However, a reliable source from the Osun State House of Assembly told Daily Mail that the House would react to the letter at the appropriate time.