Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, has reiterated his commitment to continue to uphold ‘No Security Vote’ policy and sustain security services through the budgetary process.
Adeleke, in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed yesterday, declared that under his watch, the administration will not operate security vote in the sense that Nigerians understand it.
He stated Osun has no slush fund which many Nigerians regard as security vote that is drawn from allocation.
According to him, “our expenditure on security services are undertaken within the confines of the public finance law and regulations.”
Rasheed listed security expenditure as operational support for security agencies operating in the state; funding of operations to quell communal crises; support for communal peace activities and funding of the state security outfit, Amotekun among others.
He explained, “Such expenditure, the governor posited, are processed within the context of statutory approval process which involves raising of memos and compliance with government payment process.
“I am proud to declare that the Osun State government under my watch does not operate a slush fund that our media friends call security votes. Our security needs are met through the approval process. I face resistance over the policy but I stick to it even at great cost.
“My motivation for insisting on the policy was the situation I met on the ground in November 2022. I believe Osun needs every kobo to meet her numerous developmental challenges. Our earnings from FAAC allocations and internally generated revenues are channeled to key sectoral projects from infrastructure to agriculture to health among others.
“We also target payment of workers’ emolument, pensions and outstanding salary debt. We maintain a delicate balance on expenditure across human and infra sectors and within less than three years, we have good records widely verified by local and national stakeholders”, the Governor submitted.
