Ondo State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Wale Akinterinwa, said the present administration of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu SAN, has been prudent with the state resources and stabilized the Sunshine State financially in the last six years.
According to the Commissioner, the state was able to achieve this because it had blocked many loopholes in the system while several lost funds had been recovered into the State Government’s coffers and accrued interest paid.
He spoke in a chat with our correspondent, in Akure, the state capital, on Wednesday.
Akinterinwa also said several billions of Naira had been mobilised into the state to fund infrastructural needs and other financial needs, adding that Governor Akeredolu’s prudent management of resources helped to stabilise the state financially that salaries were paid as and when due.
He stated that the assemblage of a think-thank team led to an increment in Internally Generated Revenue, surpassing the budget in all years since the inception of Akeredolu’s administration.
He explained that Governor Akeredolu paid six months out of the outstanding seven months’ salary arrears inherited from the previous administration, as well as payment of several billion in pension and gratuity arrears.
The Honourable Commissioner said, “We have surpassed our IGR budget with several billions of naira and revamped the Land Use Charge for improved revenue generation. The government investment portfolio was restructured for capital gains and increased revenue generation”.
“There has been effective and efficient management and allocation of government resources even as we improved efforts to source for cheap funds in the form of grants, donations and loans from donors, and development partners.”
“We have sourced cheap funds from financial institutions to augment the government’s resources whenever the need arises and advised the Governor on effective and efficient allocation of state’s resources.”
Akinterinwa, who listed achievements recorded by the Akeredolu administration, since 2017 explained that restructuring of the old bond was carried out to free more cash for government spending besides raising another N30bn from both the capital markets and private placements.