The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has criticized the recently signed 2025 Appropriation Act by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, describing it as a “Budget of Looting.”
This follows the allocation of N698 billion for the state’s expenditures in 2025, which the opposition claims is riddled with suspicious and exorbitant allocations.
In a press statement issued by the PDP’s State Publicity Secretary, Kennedy Ikantu Peretei, the party expressed outrage over the N11.5 billion tagged as “Security Vote” under the Ministry of Finance, a figure they described as inexplicable.
“There is nowhere in the world where the people’s monies are so stolen with official stamp in this reckless manner,” Peretei said.
The PDP further highlighted allocations of N200 million for House of Assembly members and N280 million for the Speaker as phone expenses, describing them as “outrageous” and unrelated to the development needs of the state.
Meanwhile, the party criticized the allocations for critical sectors such as Education and Health Care, which received N77.024 billion and N46.016 billion, respectively.
The PDP attributed the government’s poor performance since its inception to what it described as a prioritization of looting over development.
Calling for immediate action, the PDP urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the alleged mismanagement of funds in the 2025 budget.
“No state can make progress if those entrusted with the people’s funds are not accountable but use under-hand tactics to steal,” Peretei stated.
Governor Aiyedatiwa had earlier tagged the budget as the “Budget of Recovery,” emphasizing efforts to reposition the state.
However, the PDP maintains that the allocations are a betrayal of the people’s trust and a blatant misuse of public resources.
