Ernest Nwokolo, AbeokutaGovernor Dapo Abiodun has declared that his administrations would expose and tame corruption, saying the 2020 budget has been prepared to block leakages and systemic corruption within the Ogun State civil bureaucracy and governance process.Abiodun said that the administration has also emplaced institutional frameworks to checkmate efforts at perpetrating and perpetuating financial malfeasances that could compromise due process.The Governor revealed this when a delegation of the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN) and other civil society groups visited him at the Governors office, OkeMosan, Abeokuta, in commemoration of the 2019 edition of the International Anti-Corruption Day.Speaking through his chief economic adviser, Mr Dapo Okubadejo, Abiodun said that with the introduction of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability Programme for Result (SFTAS) and application of the Public Procurement Law, official corruption and sharp practices in public financial management in the state would be curbed.According to him, these mechanisms were fool-proofed and formed part of international best practices and government determination to ensure accountability and zero-tolerance for corruption.He also disclosed that the administrations resolve to make the state corruption -free state, has introduced a Government Delivery Unit(GDU) to ensure that all projects embarked on by the state government were done on time and on budget.He said: We have zero tolerance for corruption. Some of the things this administration is doing to ensure zero tolerance for corruption includes the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which is the process for budgeting and planning. It is one in which plans are done over a medium term and from which the annual budget is derived.Read Also;Dapo Abioduns headache in OgunThe governor is committed to financial transparency, accountability, we are also adopting what is called SFTAS, State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability Program for Result. What it means is that all the activities of government are put in public domain.We are also implementing the Public Procurement Law. Through the Procurement Law, we are going to ensure that we get real value for projects, the process for contract awards, procuring resources for the benefit of the state is done transparently and in line with global best practices.He also noted that government was in the process of implementing the Fiscal Responsibility Commission with mandate to ensuring prudent financial management of state resources while the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the Ministry of Budget would be strengthened to ensure that all monies allocated to Ministries, Departments and Agencies were judiciously spent.According to him, the present government in the state was fully committed and aligned with a journey to expose corruption and kick it out of the governance process.In his remarks, the convener, TAN-Ogun State, Mrs. Adebanke Akinrimisi disclosed that the commemoration of this year International Anti-Corruption Day was meant to raise awareness on the risks associated with different forms of corruption, adding that the day is aimed at promoting a better understanding of the values and rewards of resisting corruption as an investment in long term personal and societal prosperity.The state chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Emmanuel Bankole noted that labour was aware that if leakages in the system are properly blocked, government would be able to perform its responsibilities to the people, adding that rooting out corruption is a collective task.
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