The leadership of the Allied Peoples Movement in Osun State has berated Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration over what it tagged a poor Value Added Tax record.
In a statement signed by the Osun APM chairman, Adewale Adebayo, obtained in Osogbo on Sunday, the party said Osun generated the least VAT in South West in the first quarter of 2025.
Relying on the data released by StatiSense, the APM expressed concerns over the fiscal underperformance of the government.
The spokesperson of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Oladele Bamiji, in his reaction, however, described APM’s claim as laughable.
He noted that placing Osun side by side with Ogun and Lagos in terms of VAT returns exposed the intention of the party behind the allegation.
Bamiji also accused APM of deliberately avoiding talking about the alleged fiscal mismanagement of the All Progressives Congress that ruled the state for 12 years but found it convenient to talk about Adeleke who inherited a near-collapsed economy a little over two years ago.
The APM, however, insisted that the data on states’ performance in VAT had exposed Osun’s overreliance on federal allocation under Adeleke’s leadership while contributing the least to the central revenue pool.
The statement read, “We are raising serious concern 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 party added that states which are smaller in commercial activities generated more VAT than Osun, saying the development was a sign of fiscal laziness.
“We urge the PDP-led administration to wake up from its economic slumber and stimulate local productivity by supporting SMEs, modernising agriculture, and improving the ease of doing business,” the statement read.
As part of solutions, the APM demanded an internal audit of all state-driven revenue-generating activities to assess gaps, leakages, and underperformance, as well as, the development of a VAT growth strategy plan that would ensure that Osun becomes a net contributor, not just a net receiver of federal allocation.
Reacting further to APM’s claims, the PDP spokesperson accused the opposition party of being dishonest in its analysis of the state’s economic situation under Adeleke.
“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 have begun yielding measurable outcomes, gradually reflecting in VAT returns and more evidently in the state’s rising Gross Domestic Product.
“It is intellectually dishonest and economically illiterate to expect a state with a limited industrial footprint to suddenly outpace its peers in VAT generation within just two years of reform.
“Lagos, a former capital city with the headquarters of multinationals and a GDP rivalling many African nations, cannot reasonably be used as a benchmark for Osun,” he said.
The PDP implored the citizens to interrogate such propaganda with data and logic, not political bitterness masquerading as economic commentary.
“Governor Adeleke’s infrastructural rollout, aggressive ease-of-doing-business reforms, and strategic investment in the creative, tech, and agribusiness sectors are the foundation of Osun’s future VAT growth.
“We are building not just for the moment, but for sustainable progress.
“To APM and its political handlers, your attempt to fish in dry waters with false equivalences and attention-seeking rants will not distract this administration from its clear economic agenda.
“Osun is rising again and no amount of noise from political spectators can stop this renaissance,” the ruling party said.
