Ondo has been rated third best among Nigeria’s 36 states in transparency and accountability in public fund management.

Aside from Ondo, Ekiti, Kaduna, Lagos, and Gombe were among the top states rated the best in implementing public policies in the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch (CeFTIW) report.

CeFTIW, an Abuja-based non-governmental organisation with its ranking – index in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation, considered accessibility, open budget, public procurement, human resources, anti-corruption, and citizen engagement to arrive at its rating.

Reacting to the latest development on Monday, Ademola Olateju-Ademola, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation in Ondo, said the state’s rating by the report was a welcome development. 

Ms Olateju-Ademola noted that the positive development was achieved in a structured way already provided by the leadership qualities of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

“This very considerable, positive achievement did not come in one fell swoop. It was achieved in a structured way. Sudden leaps are the stuff of comic books, theatre, and movies,” she added. 

According to her, the state is fortunate to have Mr Akeredolu as a man steeped in the notion of institutions as the decisive engine room for development as its helmsman. 

She added that the “steady climb up of the transparency and accountability ladder by Ondo was a laudable understanding of the foundations needed for sustainable as opposed to ephemeral development”, noting that the transparency leads to better costing of projects and better service delivery.