More than N4.8 billion was spent by Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State on meals, refreshments and welfare packages in six months, a copy of the state budget performance report has revealed.
According to state records, the amount is different from the N517 million spent on honorarium and sitting allowances for government officials.
All these were contained in the Ogun State 2nd Quarter 2023 budget performance report on the state website where the statements of income and expenditure for the period between January-June 2023 were displayed.
In the breakdown, N3,970,418,028.00 was spent on welfare packages while N897,810,599.15 was used for refreshment and meals.
Also in the document, the government claimed another N718,382,223.14 was used for special days/celebrations while another N206,604,000 was spent on religious festivals, totalling about N950million.
The report showed that the sum of N2.3billion was spent on contingency.
The document further revealed that the Dapo Abiodun-led government took a loan of N30billion locally in Q1 (January-March 2023).
“The state realised the sum of N30,000,000,000 as Internal loans in Q1 out of the total sum of N84,895,510,000 translating to 35.35% performance of annual budget and 141.35% proportionate performance as at the end of Q1,” it read.
“However, in Q2 the state was unable to access funds from Financial Institutions, hence, recorded a zero performance on both internal and external loans.
“At Q1, the sum of N645,483,048.78 was realised from external loan/drawdown out of the budgeted inflow of N31,803,156,000 translating to 2.03% of annual budget and 8.12% of proportionate target of N7,950,789,000 at the end of Q1.
“The state shall ensure improvement in the performance of Capital Receipts in subsequent quarters through prompt fulfilment of various terms and conditions precedent to access and draw down on grants, internal and external loans.”