As part of the strategies for funding the 2021 Budget, the Osun State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Bola Oyebamiji, has said that there will be a revenue optimization in the State while less premium will be given to the Federal Allocation.

He added that the State, among other things, will cut down on the cost of governance and reform the procurement procedure which will enhance simplification for increased transparency and ease-of-doing-buisness.

Oyebamiji, while fielding questions from Journalists in his office at Abere, Osogbo, on Thursday, said the State will also continue to adhere strictly to the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy to block leakages.

He added that the State will focus on its debt sustainability as well as boost infrastructure financing, which will attract investors and grow the local economy of the State in line with the development agenda of Governor Oyetola.

“We are working to ensure that the State of Osun becomes the best place to live, work and do buisness because we know that this will have a multiplier effect on our economy. Governor Oyetola is leading the team to deliver a greater Osun and we at the Ministry of Finance are aligning to his agenda.

“We have based our budget on what we can generate internally just as we have been doing for some time. Revenue from the federation account is no longer reliable because of the sharp drop in the prices of crude as well as the pandemic.

“So we are looking inward to fund our budget. We are going to optimize our revenue generation by over 100% and we are also going to speedily reform our procurement procedures for increased transparency and ease of doing buisness.

“Human capital investment is another very important area we are looking at. It is our belief that if the people are skilled and can work efficiently, it will have a positive effect on our revenue. So we are looking in this direction; we will go into more human capital investment to shore up revenue to fund our budget.

“Our debt sustainability is something we will take seriously while infrastructure financing will also be given adequate attention to attract investors just as we aim to fast-track process reforms for the state to do well in the State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability Programme(SFTAS)”, Oyebamiji stated.

By Kingsley Omoyeni