Osun wins World Bank’s grants for fiscal transparency

OSUN State has won a World Bank grant for its fiscal transparency.

The state is among the 21 states that qualified for the grants, according to the Supervisor for Finance, Mr. Bola Oyebamiji.

Oyebamiji, who spoke at a meeting of the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability And Sustainability Programme (SFTAS), said the beneficiary states would use the grants for further development.

According to Oyebamiji, who is also in charge of the Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives and Industry,  Osun State’s financial prudence,  transparency and accountability helped it to make the list.

He added that after securing the grants, the state government had inaugurated  a steering committee chaired by him to plan ahead to enable the state to meet and sustain the programme’s eligibility criteria.

However, Oyebamiji urged the committee, which has the Supervisor for Economic Planning, Budget and Development, Prof. Olalekan Yinusa, as vice chairman, to work very hard to meet the target set for it.

Saying transparency in governance makes things work better, he said Governor Gboyega Oyetola was determined to  run a transparent government that would be for the benefit of people.

He said: “The World Bank grant is a feat that all of us must be proud of. The transparent and accountable nature of governance in Osun has paid off and I am proud that a body such as the World Bank has given us a clean bill and our state will benefit from grants that we will be used for further development.

“This is as a result of hard work and the transparent manner with which governance has been run over the years in Osun. We must continue in this manner because there is still a lot for us to achieve. We must work to institutionalise the process that will make fiscal transparency to continue to be the order of the day.”