New details don show say Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State get one controversial history for Miami, USA, wey date back to 1986. Dat year, di Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts bin open one felony case, F-86-019816, against one Shawn Michael Davis. Records show say di list of aliases for dat case include “Abiodun, Oluseun Adedapo,” wey carry di same full name and date of birth (May 29, 1960) as di current Ogun State Governor. Charges for dat file bin include grand theft, forgery, and resisting arrest with violence, though records indicate say no conviction happen after five counts get dropped and two get dismissed.
Away from di past, recent budget reports for Ogun State don raise serious questions about how di Governor’s Office dey spend state money. According to di budget execution report published by di Ministry of Budget and Planning for the first quarter of 2026, di Office of the Governor alone swallow N7,655,027,143.14 for overhead costs within just three months (January to March).
Dis spending pattern means say within just one quarter, di Governor’s Office don already use 27.61 percent of di total money wey di 2026 Appropriation Law allocate for their overhead for the full year. To put am for better perspective, di performance rate na 110.45 percent of wetin dem suppose spend for that period. Dis figure even worst pass 2025, when the office spend N6,434,298,819.90 during the same first quarter. By comparison, this year’s spending for the same period don jump by nearly 19 percent.
When you look at the entire state government, the Governor’s Office dey top the spending list by a very wide margin. The next big spender for overheads was the Board of Internal Revenue, but the Governor’s Office spend over three times that amount. In fact, out of the total N40.49 billion spent on overheads by all ministries and departments in the state during the first quarter, the Governor’s Office alone gulped 18.90 percent.
If you add other costs like personnel expenses (N1.53 billion) and capital projects (N319.78 million), the total amount needed to run the Governor’s Office for just those three months hit a massive N9,507,067,807.18. Meanwhile, other offices like the Government House and the Deputy Governor’s Office record much smaller figures.
The most worrying part for citizens na the total lack of transparency regarding this spending. Even though the report give the final figures, e no contain any breakdown of what that N7.65 billion was actually used for. No details show if the money go into travel, fuel, accommodation, or entertainment. Unlike the 2023 audited financial statements which gave detailed breakdowns of welfare, meals, and medical expenses, the 2026 report just list the lump sum without any explanation. To make mata worse, the report show some irregularities, like the Bureau of Protocol and Ceremonials spending money on personnel even when their appropriation for that item was zero.
Source: NaijaProbe