Beyond The Figures: Why Adeleke’s Economic Reality Is Different From Oyetola’s Era

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By Gbenga Akanfe

For the past months, the Osun APC has been pushing a narrative that the government of Governor Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke has received so much allocations from the FG to complete all projects in the state compared to Oyetola’s administration, so much that there shouldn’t be any work to do for whoever that will take over from him after the completion of his two term in office (by God’s grace). They are deliberately doing this so as to set the people against the government.

But what they failed to share in their distorted narrative is that Governor Adeleke did not inherit the same economic realities that existed during the administration of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.

The truth is simple: the value of money under the current administration is drastically different from what it was between 2018 and 2022. Any honest assessment of government revenue must consider inflation, fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate collapse, soaring construction costs, rising wages, and the general economic hardship confronting all states across Nigeria today. What appears bigger on paper today is not necessarily bigger in real economic value.

The fact remains that the administration of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola operated largely under a more stable economic environment. During that period (2018-2022), inflation was between 12.10% to 18.85%, hence to some extent the naira maintained relatively stronger value, fuel subsidy was still in place, and the cost of governance was significantly cheaper compared to the present realities when the inflation rate stands at about 35%.

Under Oyetola’s administration, total state receipts from 2019 to 2022 stood at about #428 billion, excluding local governments allocation, special intervention funds such as the Federal Government road refunds of #11.2 billion and the World Bank grant valued at about #8.61 billion. However, comparing those figures directly with present revenues without adjusting for prevailing economic realities is intellectually dishonest.

Today, under Governor Ademola Adeleke, Nigeria is experiencing one of its toughest economic periods in decades. Following the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira, inflation skyrocketed nationwide and naira shed a significant part of its value. Prices of construction materials, diesel, transportation, healthcare, food items, and public services increased astronomically. All these are aside the new Minimum wage of the State which is one of the best in the country. Servicing of debt owed by the APC led administration and offsetting of half salaries in which both Oyetola and the candidate of the APC in the coming gubernatorial election, Bola Oyebamiji, are beneficiaries, is a big issue that the APC usually try to ignore.

A project that cost #1billion in 2021 will surely require over #3billion to execute effectively in 2025 or 2026. The same applies to road construction, school rehabilitation, healthcare infrastructure, workers’ welfare, and social intervention programmes. This is the context critics intentionally ignore.

Yet despite these harsh realities, Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration continues to maintain infrastructural development, workers’ welfare, pension payments, healthcare interventions which earned the state the NGF Awards in 2024 and 2025, and local government support across Osun State.

Those pushing this propaganda also fail to acknowledge that internally generated revenue under Governor Adeleke improved significantly through administrative efficiency and economic activities. In 2023 alone, Osun generated #27.46 billion in IGR compared to lower figures recorded in earlier years. By 2024 and 2025, IGR performance improved to #54.42billion and #58.80billion respectively. This reflects stronger fiscal coordination and improved confidence in governance.

It is important to note that, the Adeleke administration inherited several obligations and liabilities from previous years, including infrastructure abandonment, half salaries, pension issues, and institutional challenges requiring urgent attention.

The government has also had to operate in a difficult national economy where inflation continues to erode state finances daily as well as the challenges with the local government allocation witheld since February 2025 till date.

The implication is that the Ademola Adeleke-led administration has shouldered responsibilities of government tied to Local Government Funds for one year while the peddler of the fake figures continue to share Local Government funds into individual accounts.

Therefore, reducing governance performance to mere revenue comparison without considering economic value by the critics is shallow and deceptive. A responsible analysis should ask: What was the real value of the money at the time? What were the prevailing economic conditions? How much did projects cost then compared to now? What was the inflation rate? What was the exchange rate? What was the cost of governance?

The undeniable fact remains that Governor Ademola Adeleke is governing during a far more difficult economic era than what existed between 2019 and 2022 era of Gboyega Oyetola. If Governor received over #2trillion from the FG covers since November, 2022 till date, we can still not equate it in values to what Oyetola administration received.

More emphasis should be paid to the fact that despite all of these challenges, the Ademola Adeleke-led administration has not borrowed a dime, not from foreign or local source.

History will judge administrations not merely by the size of allocations received, but by how effectively they navigated the economic realities of their time to improve the lives of the people.

Olugbenga Akanfe writes from Ede, Osun State