The outgoing PDP governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, this week drew public attention to his questionable governance tactics with his controversial budgetary revisions.

In May 2024, he requested an increase in the state’s budget to N409.217 billion from N342.826 billion, which he signed into law on December 22, 2023.

The request, framed as a necessity to complete his administration's projects, was approved by the rubber-stamp Edo State House of Assembly.

However, recent developments reveal that the budget has ballooned to a staggering N450 billion, without a transparent explanation for these continuous increases. This is vintage Governor Obaseki at work: signing MOUs, taking loans, and entering into partnerships that fail to yield tangible results.

In December 2023, the same assembly had already increased the budget by N17.5 billion over what was initially proposed, from N321.4 billion to N342.826 billion.

At the time, Governor Obaseki justified the revision as essential for his administration to fulfill its commitments. He claimed the increase would enable him to successfully finish his tenure, addressing key projects and programs that the PDP could not accomplish in eight years.

By May, however, the governor sought another revision, pushing the budget to N409.2 billion, and the House of Assembly, without much scrutiny, quickly approved the governor's request, citing the need to support the implementation of a new N70,000 minimum wage for workers.

Some assembly members even argued that the supplementary budget was necessary to avoid abandoned projects and ensure financial stability in the governor’s final months.

Despite these justifications, the rapid escalation in the budget points in one direction: to fund the struggling campaign of the PDP in the September 21 governorship elections. This appears to be the true motive behind these revisions.

While the government claims that N5 billion from the new budget will be allocated to boost small businesses in the state, this reasoning contradicts earlier explanations.

In May, the revision was to help the governor finish his administration on a strong note, not to promote small business growth. The government and the assembly know too well that if small business support were truly a priority, it should have been clearly stated in the initial 2023 budget.

This shift in narrative shows that the governor may be using the claim of aiding small businesses as a convenient excuse to provide much-needed funding for the ailing PDP campaign, thereby increasing the state’s indebtedness. Yet the PDP will not even be on the ballot come September.

The governor’s statement that the exchange rate had nearly doubled during his tenure, justifying the increase in the budget size, is also out of touch with the realities on the ground.

While currency fluctuations impact overall budget planning, the consistent upward revisions and lack of transparency in spending point to inefficiency in the state’s financial management.

The Assembly’s decision to increase the budget to N409.2 billion without providing a detailed breakdown of the revised expenditures also casts doubt on the process. How Edo State ended up with a rubber-stamp assembly is a matter for another day.

These are representatives who were elected to act as a check on executive power, yet without proper scrutiny, they are ever ready and willing to increase the budget at any time. The House increased the budget from the original N321.4 billion to N409.2 billion, and now to N450 billion, without public consultations or a clear explanation of how the funds will be spent.

Moreover, while the governor insists that the revised budget allocates 57 percent to capital expenditure and 43 percent to recurrent expenditure, the actual impact of these allocations on the state’s economy is only known to the occupants of Osadebey Avenue.

With the PDP's disastrous tenure drawing to a close, Edo residents know that these supplementary budgets are merely a parting gift for an outgoing administration.