Prudent management of resources and ability to deploy little resources judiciously to achieve more of the Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State have been recognised by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the World Bank Group.
To this end, Oyetola was adjudged the Best Governor on Efficiency of Public Expenditure by the World Bank’s States’ Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability, SFTAS, beating 35 other governors to clinch the coveted award.
Similarly, Osun as a State also clinched another award of Excellence for being the “TOP” performer on Domestic Revenue Mobilisation.
The awards were bestowed on the Governor and the State in Abuja, at an event tagged, “Federal Government of Nigeria/World Bank States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) recognition dinner with Governors/Awards Night.”
The event was organised to celebrate the achievements of SFTAS since inception at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
The global bank said the Osun Governor clinched the award following reforms which he deployed and which have impacted positively on the fiscal transparency and accountability in public resource management of the State.
SFTAS is a programme that encourages and motivates Nigerian states towards improvement of their Public Finance Management systems, processes and institution aimed at strengthening fiscal transparency to help build trust in government, facilitate accountability in public resource management and ensure sustainability in the participating states.
The World Bank has been rigorously assessing the states on some key Direct Link Indicators (DLIs).
Speaking shortly after receiving the awards on behalf of the Governor and the State, the state Finance Commissioner, Bola Oyebamiji, said Oyetola has been able to manage the debt situation of Osun in such a way that it has not affected the State’s present and future development.
“For me, the awards go further to show that all the accolades being showered on our boss, who prefers to call himself the team leader, is no fluke.
“Before we came in, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the State was N10.3 billion in 2018. But by 2020, Osun’s IGR grew to N19.67 billion, placing it among the top 16 states with the highest IGRs in the country. The state raised N9.6 billion in the first six months of the year and N9.8 billion in the last six months.
“In 2018 (before we came into office), Osun was placed 32nd on the fiscal sustainability index, finishing just ahead of Taraba, Plateau, Adamawa, and Kogi states.
“But by 2021, the state climbed to 19th place on the index. It was ranked 13th out of 36 states of the federation. You will agree with me that this is a significant improvement under the Oyetola administration,” Oyebamiji added.
