Since Funsho Doherty, the 2023 governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) in Lagos State, opened the can of worms on the reckless spendings of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, there have been concerns about the spending habits of governments across the 36 states.

FIJ examined some of the spendings of Kwara State Government in the first nine months of 2023 and found that between January and September 2023, it spent N1.4 billion on travels and transport and N698 million on fuel and lubricants.

The government had budgeted the sum of N3 billion for general travel and transport, and N1.2 billion for fuel and lubricants as seen under the total expenditure by economic classification in its 2023 revised budget.

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The general travel and transport expenses cover ‘local travel and transport (training)’, ‘local travel and transport (others)’, ‘international travel and transport (training)’, and ‘international travel and transport (others)’.

On the other hand, the expenses on fuel and lubricants cover motor vehicle, other transport equipment, plant/generator and aircraft fuel costs.

Within this period, the government also spent N837 million on welfare packages, N431m on honorariums and sitting allowances, N88 million on refreshments and meals, and N3.5 million for the supply of kitchen items for Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq’s lodge.

Welfare packages, refreshments and meals, and honorariums and sitting allowances are categorised under the general miscellaneous expenses, while the kitchen items and equipment are under the general purchase of fixed assets.

Ten million naira was budgeted for the supply of kitchen items and equipment for the governor’s lodge at the government house. The breakdown of the items is shown as: ceiling mounted heat extractor, deep freezers, wall mounted heat extractor, electric gas cooker, microwave, servicing plates, plate racks, gas cooker-burners, wind glass cup, cutlery and Samsung side-by-side.

FIJ found two similar items in the miscellaneous expenses category of the government’s budget. The first item, local medical expenses, has a budget of N95 million, of which N25 million has already been spent. Health care services, another item, has a budget of N5.5 million, of which N1.3 million has been spent so far.

Another odd item in the budget report is titled ‘meeting and visitation expenses’. The government budgeted N104 million for this, out of which N60 million has already been spent.

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2022

FIJ observed that the Kwara State Government’s expenditure on the mentioned items in 2023 was slightly higher than the 2022 budget.

For instance, the government spent N187 million on honorariums and sitting allowances, N79 million on refreshments and meals, and N560 million on welfare packages within the first nine months of 2022.

Also, while fuel and lubricants gulped N502 million, travel and transport gulped N998 million in the same period.

Out of the N88 million budgeted for local medical expenses, N40 million was spent in the first three quarters of 2022.

The government spent N1.5 million on health care services out of the allocated N11.9 million, just as N56 million was spent out of the N102 million allocated for meeting and visitation expenses.