The Oyo state Governor ,Engineer Seyi Makinde has stated that he was still using his personal Car and did not approve new cars for his administration officials in order to cut costs of governance in the pacesetter state.
Governor Makinde made this known during his quarterly media chat on Saturday, December 21st, 2019.
The chat which was hosted by the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo state (BCOS) and gave residents of the state to talk to the Governor via phone lines while the media chat was live .
The Governor talked about Oyo state finances, Security, Healthcare, Education, and many more issues.
When asked the secret on how Oyo state has been able to pay salaries, the Governor said he had to cut costs of governance.
He said he was not only driving his personal car, he did not also approve new cars to be purchased for the officials in his administration.
Considering the uproar over the Nigerian Senate choosing to spend N5.5bn on new cars despite the state of the nation’s finances, this was a prudent and necessary decision by the Governor.
Oyo state had over 60 bank accounts which he consolidated into one
The governor said “We decided to prioritise the needs of the people of Oyo State. Oyo State had over 60 bank accounts, I asked the Accountant General to consolidate into one account. The total was N6 billion. The IGR has gone up a bit, because we have blocked the loopholes but we will do more.
On Christmas decoration, Seyi Makinde said “Oyo State government didn’t spend 1 kobo on the Christmas decorations. It was funded by the usual ‘Christmas gift’ to the governor, that was what we used to pay for the Christmas decorations so it cost government nothing.”
