Ibadan: Hakeem Alao, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and former governorship candidate, has raised red flags over Governor Seyi Makinde‘s handling of Oyo State’s budgets since 2019.
In a recent statement made available to reporters in Ibadan on Sunday, Alao, a former governorship candidate under the umbrella of Alliance for Democracy (AD), decried the use of multiple supplementary budgets, arguing that it undermines fiscal discipline and erodes public trust.
According to him, the recently approved N299.8 billion supplementary budget in Oyo State raised troubling questions about transparency, accountability and fiscal prudence in governance.
He argued that repeated supplementation inflates the state’s budget beyond reason, complicating effective fund management and inviting sharp practices that could undermine the public’s trust in government finances.
“The 2025 approved budget stands at N684 billion, with key allocations going to infrastructure, education and economic stabilisation, yet repeated additions push the total to N984 billion,” he said.
Alao warned that duplicating funds for sectors like health and education already covered in the central budget added unnecessary complexity, and undermines the integrity of the state’s fiscal framework.
He cited poor implementation of previous budgets, noting only 65 per cent performance in 2024 and 11.4 per cent actual capital expenditure in the first quarter of 2025 as indicators of failure.
Alao, the budget pattern was described as a threat to fiscal discipline, compounded by reported wasteful spending such as the extravagant renovation of the Government House, condemned by the U.S. Embassy.
He advised the state to adopt a single, realistic annual budget, saying this would protect public funds, ensure transparent governance and improve the delivery of socio-economic benefits to the people of Oyo.
