Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State has sent stringent warnings to Commissioners and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state to stop wasting public funds on unproductive workshops and conferences.
The governor gave the warning on Thursday in Ado-Ekiti while commissioning motorcycles and other valuable items at a program organized by Ekiti State Internal Revenue Service (EKIRS).
He expressed his displeasure at the activities of some Commissioners and MDAs, saying they don’t reflect their pledge to improve citizens’ lives.
Oyebanji urged them to refrain from unproductive workshops and conferences and divert resources into projects and initiatives that will benefit the entire state.
His words, “My appeal to all of us to exercise fiscal caution has not been yielded. I still see requests from MDAs forwarded to me by Commissioners on suspicious workshops, seminars, conferences and other questionable expenditures to take money out of the system.
“I feel bad when Commissioners also forward such to me. I approved some just to make people happy, but my heart bleeds when I see it.
“I have pleaded with MDAs that there’s no point going to any seminars that will not add value to us. Even if they don’t have original papers, they make photocopies, and they send them to me, and commissioners forward them to me because they also want to travel.
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“They are not being fair to our people; I declined some proposals, I approved some and let it slide.
“Most of them, the commissioner of finance, will not pay, and they will abuse him. I’m pleading with all of us to please fear God and to note that God put us in this position because of people who are helpless outside.
“I still don’t understand why civil servants, after paying the minimum wage and salary, would want to attend an association conference and want the state government to sponsor them.
“I can’t rationalize it, they would say that’s the tradition; we need to look inward because you are the one making the money, if you now waste it, then what happens to your efforts and the impacts it should have on Ekiti people?”.
The Governor also commended the chairman of the EKIRS, Olaniran Olatona, for his commitment and transparent efforts in revenue generation and called for the blockage of leakages in the State’s civil service.
Speaking with Journalists, the EKIRS Chair, Olatona, said Motorcycles and other valuable items were presented to nine top-performing MDAs to encourage them and improve their operations.
According to him, the rapid growth in the state IGR was not achieved by EKIRS alone but with the tireless efforts of MDAs in the State.
He urged the underperforming revenue generation ministries to work hard and strategize to contribute to the development of the state, saying revenue generation is the lifeblood of Ekiti.
Olatona explained that the EKIRS would collaborate with MDAs to embrace digitalisation and devise strategies to stop leakages and improve internal revenue generation.
The top-performing MDAs are the Ministry of Justice, Bureau of Lands Services, Housing Corporation, Ministry of Trade Investment and Cooperative, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Forestry, Directorate of Farm Settlement, Ministry of Education, Signage and Advertisement, Office of the Surveyor General and Office of the Accountant General.
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