Economy: Adeleke suspends foreign trips for officials
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has suspended foreign trip for top government officials on a bid to direct expenditure towards achieving critical infrastructure development.
He also directed that application virtual meetings for attendance and participation at international business and investment events, except in emergency situation authorised by the governor.
A statement issued on Monday by the Governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed disclosed that the Governor while addressing the State Executive Council on Thursday, called for due diligence on the budget preparation process, reading out key policy directives on the governance of the state.
The meeting attended by all members of the executive council deliberated on 2024 budget proposals from the Ministries, departments and agencies as a prelude to the submission of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework to the State House of Assembly.
Governor Adeleke further instructed that state expenditure should henceforth be focused on implementation of critical projects across the sectors, stressing the need for personal sacrifices by top officials of the administration to meet public expectations.
“Foreign trips for top officials for the rest of the year is hereby suspended unless there is a direct emergency to be authorized by the Governor.
“We must sustain the momentum of our service delivery by avoiding excessive spending on recurrent and overheads. Our needs from office to accommodation are much but our resources are limited. So we have to devise a coping mechanism pending the time our funding situation will improve” , he said.
In a bid to enforce efficiency in governance, the State Governor also directed the Head of Service to prepare a memo to streamline the relationship between the Commissioners and Special Advisers.
“While memos by Special Advisers must pass through the Permanent Secretary to the Commissioners, the Commissioners must ensure fair play and accommodating spirit. This is necessary to to pre-empt possible rivalry among top appointees.
“Members of the Council are to also note that I will be unveiling the administration’s N100 billion Infrastructure Plan by Thursday. The plan covers roads, health, water, housing among others.
“I invite us all to note that this treasury board deliberations are critical to the achievement of our governance goals. We must take it with all seriousness”, the statement further reads.
