Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has refuted claims that his government spent ₦3.1 billion on domestic and international travels within six months, describing the reports as “misleading” and politically driven.
The allegation, which surfaced in a widely circulated online report, suggested the travel expenses exceeded the budget allocations to other ministries.
However, in a statement issued on Monday, August 4, Adeleke’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, clarified that the ₦3.1 billion figure was not spent on travel alone but was the full-year budget earmarked for training and capacity building across over 100 government agencies in the state.
“The amount quoted for Governor Adeleke was negligible because the Governor footed most of his travel through his family’s private jet, just like the case of his recent trip to the United States of America,” Rasheed said.
He added that the figures cited were publicly available on the state’s website, in line with the administration’s commitment to transparency.
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“There are no smoking guns. We urge those interested in full breakdown of the state expenditure to apply for requisite information under the federal Freedom of Information Act,” the statement added.
Rasheed dismissed the media report as an “opposition-sponsored” attempt to distort the purpose of the allocated funds.
“The sponsored publication is a failed attempt by the opposition to misrepresent and mischaracterise much-needed expenditure on local and international training programmes for public servants, service-wide facility maintenance costs and several critical overhead expenses across over 100 government agencies,” he stated.
According to him, Governor Adeleke is only one of several officials whose training and travel-related costs are covered under the general budget.
“So it is incorrect to say Governor Adeleke spent so much on travelling. Also, one has to probe the importance of these travels and training and the value it brings to the state now and in the near future,” Rasheed explained.
He also highlighted Adeleke’s participation in the Commonwealth Business Investment Conference, where Osun signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ESG Management Services UK Ltd. to attract investments in key sectors such as agriculture, mining, and manufacturing.