Ogun 2020 Budget Prepared To Tame Corruption, Says Abiodun

Ogun 2020 Budget Prepared To Tame Corruption, Says Abiodun

Ogun state governor, Dapo Abiodun on Monday said that his administration carefully prepared the year 2020 Appropriation Bill to block leakages and systemic corruption within the civil bureaucracy and governance process.

The governor stated this Monday while hosting the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN) and other civil society groups at his office in Oke – Mosan, Abeokuta, the state capital in commemoration of the International Anti-Corruption Day.

The governor, who spoke through his Chief Economic Adviser, Dapo Okubadejo explained that his administration has put in place, an institutional framework to checkmate efforts at perpetuating financial malfeasances that may compromise due process.

He said by the introduction of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability Programme for Result (SFTAS) and the introduction and application of the Public Procurement Law, official corruption and sharp practices in public financial management in the state would be curbed.

He noted that these mechanisms are fool-proofed not that they also form part of international best practices and his government determination to ensure accountability and zero-tolerance for corruption.

“We have zero tolerance for corruption. Some of the things this administration is doing to ensure zero tolerance for corruption include the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which is the process for budgeting and planning. It is one in which plans are done over a medium term and from which the annual budget is derived.

“The governor is committed to financial transparency, accountability, we are also adopting what is called SFTAS, State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability Program for Result. What it means is that all the activities of government are put in the public domain. We are also implementing the Public Procurement Law. Through the Procurement Law, we are going to ensure that we get real value for projects, the process for contract awards, procuring resources for the benefit of the state is done transparently and in line with global best practices”.

The Chief Economic Adviser also disclosed that the present administration in ensuring a corrupt-free state has introduced the Government Delivery Unit. The unit, he said, would at all times ensure that all projects embarked on by the state government are done on time and on budget.

Okuboyejo who also said that government was in the process of implementing the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, added that the commission would ensure prudent financial management of state resources.

He added that the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the Ministry of Budget would be strengthened to ensure that all monies allocated to Ministries, Departments and Agencies are judiciously spent.

He contended that the present government in the state is fully committed and aligned with a journey to expose corruption and kick it out of the governance process.

In his remarks, the convener, TAN-Ogun State, Mrs. Adebanke Akinrimisi disclosed that the commemoration of the year 2019 International Anti-Corruption Day is an important event designed to raise awareness on the risks associated with different forms of corruption, adding that the day is aimed at promoting a better understanding of the values and rewards of resisting corruption as an investment in long term personal and societal prosperity.

The state chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Emmanuel Bankole noted that labour was aware that if leakages in the system are properly blocked, government would be able to perform its responsibilities to the people, adding that rooting out corruption is a collective task.

Performing her first assignment since she was appointed the State Head of Service, TPL Ajibola Chokor, assured that corruption would be eradicated in the state’s civil service and brought to the barest minimum.

She stated that the Ogun state workforce would support the government of Prince Dapo Abiodun to accomplish the task of ridding the state of corruption.