In just six months, the Office of the Secretary to the Bauchi State Government (SSG) has spent a staggering ₦29, 627,828,398.53 (twenty-nine billion six hundred and twenty-seven million, eight hundred and twenty thousand, three hundred and ninety-eight naira and fifty three kobo) as overhead expenditure, WikkiTimes can report.
According to the Bauchi state government budget performance report and the 2024 budget, SSG’s office has a total budget of N 9,152, 000,000.00 (Nine Billion, One Hundred and Fifty Two Million) for the whole year.
However, a review of the state budget performance report of first quarter (Q1) 2024 reveals that between January and March, the SSG’s office has spent a total of ₦9, 678,128,566.75 as overhead expenditure.
Similarly, in the second quarter performance report published, the SSG’s office wasted the sum of ₦19, 949, 699,831.78 as its overhead expenditure between April and June 2024.
WikkiTimes can authoritatively report that in both documents, there was no report or indication of reviewing the 2024 allocation to the office of the secretary to accommodate the extra spending.
Recall that Wikkitimes had reported how Bauchi state government spent the sum of N67.7 billion as security votes in four years.
In the same vein, WikkiTimes disclosed how critical sectors such as health and education end up with far lesser expenditure.
Traditionally in Nigeria, the office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) is often used as a conduit for channeling substantial amounts of money under the guise of security votes.
Security votes funds, which are allocated for addressing security challenges, are typically not subject to detailed public scrutiny or audit.
