Osun Auditor-General advocates stricter overhead controls for MDAs

The Office of the Auditor-General of Osun State has recommended the stoppage of overhead funding to ministries that fail to render proper accounts.

The recommendation was contained in the report of the State Auditor-General, Kolapo Idris, on the accounts of the Osun State Government for the year ended December 31, 2025.

The report was presented at an audit forum held in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Monday. The forum was attended by heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, representatives of civil society groups, professional bodies and other stakeholders.

Speaking on the ministerial and non-ministerial accounts of the state, Idris said audit queries and observations were raised based on identified audit issues.

He identified negligence by some internal auditors, non-availability and improper preparation of relevant accounting documents, fictitious expenditures, wrongly computed statutory deductions and abuse of approval and payment processes, among other issues.

He suggested further training for accountants, account officers and internal auditors to enhance service delivery.

He further recommended, “Direct stoppage of release of overhead to ministries that have not rendered proper accountability as noticed by the Auditor-General.

“Total adherence to standards guiding preparation of accounting books and records. Inspectorate and management services department in Accountant-General’s office should be strengthened for more efficiency and effectiveness.

“And, sincerely speaking, over the years, Osun State has been doing well in following necessary financial regulations and appropriation laws.”

Idris noted a rise in revenue from the Federation Account but called for a more aggressive revenue drive targeting the informal sector to further strengthen the state’s financial base.

“Thousands of informal sectors need to be captured. What I expect of internal revenue is to make sure they are all well-captured so that they can easily take whatever is due to the government from them.

“For instance, now, look at the way things are done in the motor parks all around the state. The law states that whatever is accrued to motor parks, 30% of it must be given to those who are operating there and 70% to the government.

“But up to today, none of them has ever given anything to the government of the state. They take all 100%. That is why you see them living fat. The normal thing is that 70% of it must come back to the state government, while they retain 30%, and the control we normally have over it is that it is the state that will print the receipt and give it to them.

“And another thing is that the state itself was ready to take care of the garages and provide their necessities. They will have to provide them with security, toilets, lights, and other things for the place to be habitable for them.”

He charged stakeholders to collaborate towards generating more robust Internally Generated Revenue for the government.

Highlighting some basic components of the 2025 Osun financial report, Idris said total revenue inflow, consisting of FAAC receipts, Value Added Tax, IGR, capital receipts and development partners’ funds, stood at N363,628,291,927.66.

He said total expenditure for the year, comprising personnel expenditure, overhead expenditure, other recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure, stood at N385,682,554,674.77.

The report further showed that Osun’s opening balance for 2025 was N60,205,607,471.63, while the closing balance for the same year was N38,151,344,724.52.

PUNCH Online earlier reported that Osun State’s Internally Generated Revenue more than doubled in 2024, rising to N54.7bn from N25.3bn recorded in 2023, according to the state’s Financial Statements and Accounts for the year ended December 31, 2024.

The report, presented by the State Auditor-General, Kolapo Idris, also showed that total revenue inflows for the year stood at N306.8bn.

According to the breakdown, statutory allocation amounted to N159.7bn, Value Added Tax contributed N66.8bn, while capital receipts and development partners’ funds stood at N25.4bn.