THE Ondo Redemption Front (ORF) has charged the state government to be prudent in the management of commonwealth and resources of the people.
Chairman of the group, Dr Ayodeji Ologun; Co-chairman, Kayode Mogbojuri, and Secretary, Adedotun Ajulo, who spoke with newsmen in Lagos, said the people of Ondo State deserve more than empty promises and glossy announcements.

The group said the people deserve real transparency, accountability, and prudent stewardship of public resources.

It said: “We have come once again, as the voice of the people and the conscience of reasoning, to speak the truth without fear or favour.

“Our duty is simple but sacred: to call attention to the misuse of our collective resources, draw the curtain back on administrative inconsistencies, and ensure that the good people of Ondo State are not left in the dark while those entrusted with power trade in shadows.
This month, we have decided to throw more light on the handling of our common patrimony, as it has become evident that the state government allegedly focused on plundering the commonwealth of Ondo State and performing financial abracadabra with public funds.

“What we see is not prudent governance, but a troubling mixture of opacity, inconsistent planning, impulsive financial decisions, and the deliberate misuse of power to mask a failing economic structure.
“As we begin the close of 2025, the people of Ondo State deserve more than empty promises and glossy announcements.
“What they deserve, and what they must demand, is real transparency, accountability, and prudent stewardship of public resources.

“But under the current administration of Governor LuckyAiyedatiwa, what we see instead is mounting fiscal inconsistency, legalistic sophistry, and a growing climate of impunity.
“At the end of 2024, the administration forwarded to the legislature a 2025 appropriation bill totalling N655.23 billion, heralded as a Budget of Recovery.

“Within it, capital expenditure accounted for approximately 62 per cent, and recurrent expenditure accounted for about 38 per cent.
“But the story quickly unravelled. The legislature, under pressure and hawkishly optimistic about inflows, revised and passed a 2025 budget of N698.66 billion.”

“That revision, itself, lacked clarity: what precisely spurred the N43.4 billion increase? And how much of that extra would go into transformative projects versus inflated recurrent spending?
“Barely a year later, the same budget was suddenly slashed by over N200 billion, and repackaged as a revised and restructured version amounting to approximately N489.9 bilion.”l

“This administration insisted that it was not a supplementary budget, but a recalibration of unrealised donor inflows and economic constraints.
“But ask any concerned citizen: when you slash the budget that dramatically, especially after legal passage, what you are doing is admitting that the earlier plan was unrealistic or reckless.
“And yet, by November 2025, barely a week ago, a fresh supplementary request now estimated at N531 billion has been mooted.
“How does a state go from a N698-plus billion budget, to a revised N489.9 billion budget, only to demand another N531 billion in the same fiscal year? The arithmetic doesn’t add up,”the group further stated.

The group, therefore, called full disclosure of 2025 budget performance, line-by-line, project-by-project, with timelines and cost-to-date; publication of all contracts awarded since January 2025, with details on contractors, amounts, scope of work, and timelines; and an independent forensic audit of Ondo State finances, with civil society participation, to reclaim fiscal credibility and public trust.

It also asked for a moratorium on any new supplementary request or restructured budgets until audit findings are made public and past obligations verified and legislative reform that ensures greater transparency, oversight, and depoliticisation of appropriation and contract approval processes.

“The people of Ondo State did not hand over a mandate for cosmetic parks or fiscal juggling. They handed over a mandate for good governance, purposeful budgeting, and meaningful development.
“If the current administration of Governor Aiyedatiwa cannot meet that mandate, then it has betrayed the people’s trust and must be held accountable. If the legislature cannot exercise genuine oversight, then it must be reformed.

“For Ondo State to be redeemed in spirit, infrastructure, and opportunity, there can be no more cover-ups. There can be no more budgetary acrobatics. The people demand truth. They demand service. They demand accountability,” it said.