The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in Osun State has lambasted Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration’s poor Value Added Tax record after Osun State emerged with the least VAT in the South West between January and March of 2025.
In a statement signed by the Osun APM Chairman, Adewale Adebayo, the party criticised the state governor for his over-reliance on federal allocation, which has positioned Osun as the state contributing the least to the central revenue pool.
The APM expressed concerns over the fiscal underperformance of the government, emphasising that the governor is not doing enough to rub shoulders with other states in his region in terms of generating internal revenue.
“We are raising serious concerns over the fiscal underperformance of the Osun State Government as exposed by the recently released VAT statistics for Q1 2025 by StatiSense.
“The report revealed that Osun State generated N5.95bn in VAT revenue, which is the lowest in South West states, despite receiving a higher allocation of N21.23bn, compared with N19.63bn of Ekiti State.
“Other states such as Lagos generated a whopping N819.62bn and received N138.53bn, the disparity between what Osun contributes and what it receives is not only alarming but underscores a chronic lack of productivity and innovation in economic governance by Adeleke’s government,” the statement read.
In its response, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman, Oladele Bamiji, described APM’s allegations as mere witch-hunting.
He highlighted that comparing Osun’s VAT returns with those of Ogun and Lagos reveals the underlying motives of the party making the allegations. Bamiji also criticised the APM for focusing on Adeleke while avoiding discussions on the fiscal mismanagement of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that governed the state for 12 years.
“Governor Adeleke inherited a near-collapsed economy in 2022, overburdened with debt, unpaid entitlements, abandoned public infrastructure and a demotivated local enterprise ecosystem.,
“Despite this, under the leadership of Adeleke, the Osun economy is on a steady rebound. The administration’s policy focus on stimulating small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, empowering artisans and farmers, promoting digital entrepreneurship, and revitalising agriculture has begun yielding measurable outcomes, gradually reflecting in VAT returns and more evidently in the state’s rising Gross Domestic Product,” he said.
