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Aregbesola, Oyetola Rift Deepens. As Loyalists Clash Over Osun Debt Profile
4 years ago

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The rift between Governor Gboyega Oyetola of
Osun State and his predecessor, Ogbeni Rauf
Aregbesola, current Minister of Interior, deep
ened Wednesday as their key loyalists traded
blames over the huge debt profile of the state.
While supporters of Aregbesola said Osun’s
debt incurred during his tenure had been
liquidated, those in Oyetola’s camp said the
former governor and his loyalists are eco
nomical with the truth as the Fiscal
Responsibility Commission (FRC) recently
disclosed that “Osun State under Aregbesola
was hugely indebted to the tune of about N170
billion.”
Speaking with Daily Independent, a chieftain of
the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun,
who played a key role in Oyetola’s emergence
as governor and also served in Aregbesola’s
administration, said Oyetola was still paying
back the huge debts incurred by Aregbesola,
yet has not defaulted in payments of salaries
and other responsibilities since assumption of
office.
“We all know what transpired under
Aregbesola. Months of unpaid salaries and a
situation where religious bodies and civil
society organisations were donating food
items to Osun people, especially civil servants.
Osun was just like Somalia under him. We are
thankful to God that despite challenges and
paucity of funds, nothing of such has
happened under Governor Oyetola”.
“Some few months ago, the former governor
and most of his loyalists, including a former
commissioner in the state, Hon. Bola Ilori, were
everywhere gloating over the fact that Osun’s
debt had been liquidated and as such,
supporters of the current governor,
Adegboyega Oyetola, have no justification for
complaining over paucity of funds”.
“But reports in the papers appear to have
exposed their lies and propaganda. For
instance, in one of the reports in one of the na
tional dailies, published on April 6, 2021, it
stated that for Osun, the public debt stood at
N169,784,799,861.33, while the revenue stood
at N24, 222,272,968.42. This puts the debt to
revenue ratio at 700.94 percent. It, therefore,
exceeded the 50 percent rule by 650.94
percent.”
Curiously, however, political watchers of
events in the state believed that what was on
ground under the former governor does not in
any way justify the huge debt profile of the
state.Those who hold this view are quick to
also add that the about N170 billion debt does
not include debts owed to local contractors
and other commercial banks in the country.
“I have been part of the APC government here
since 2010 and I can tell you authoritatively
that the current administration had paid debts
of over N40 billion since it came without
borrowing money from anywhere,” he said.
“There are occasions when after deducting at
source the debts owed by the state, it is left
with very low amount as ridiculous as
N50,000. In fact, there was a newspaper that
reported that we had zero allocation from
FAAC after deducting our debts sometime last
year,” he added.
He again said, “On some refunds that were
made to the state, the refunds were on the
ongoing road projects and the state had
deployed the funds into funding the road
projects it inherited from the previous
administration.
“Crosscheck your facts, when Ogbeni
(Aregbesola) was leaving, Akoda-Gbongan
Road was less than 18 percent. So, the
refunds were expended on that road and
others the government inherited. The refunds
would have become handier if the projects had
been completed before the refunds came. So it
will be presumptuous to conclude that
government got refunds on those roads to do
other government business,” the source said.
Reacting to the claim, a senior aide of
Aregbesola, who asked not to be named, said
it is hypocritical for Governor Oyetola to blame
the minister for incurring debt when he
(Oyetola) was the negotiator for the loans as
the Chief of Staff to the governor.
“I can only speak within my knowledge. The
current Commissioner of Finance in Osun will
shed more light on this because he was also
the Commissioner for Finance in Ogbeni’s
second term.
“These people are just hypocrites. The Chief of
Staff then, Oyetola is the governor now. The
truth is that, all of us took these loans
together. Oyetola, who was the Chief of Staff
to Aregbesola is a signatory to all the loans.
He was the chief negotiator of salaries and
pension matters and he cannot deny that.
“I can send you pictures where he (Oyetola) as
Chief of Staff to Aregbesola signed an accord
for modulated salary. There is nothing that
happened under Aregbesola that he did not
know about. So, why is he now playing the
ostrich and acting as if he became governor
under an opposition party?
“You cannot take any loan without the
signatory of the Chief of Staff and the Com
missioner of Finance. As I said, the
Commissioner for Finance in Aregbesola’s
second term is still holding the same position
under Oyetola. If there was financial misman
agement then, will Oyetola retain him?
“What did Aregbesola use these loans for?
Building schools which are one of the best in
the country today. Those schools are there
today and Oyetola who is crying about loans is
today the beneficiary. He took sukuk loans at
zero percent interest rate for the 11 high
schools projects. Now all the monies have
been paid back and Osun still has the schools.
“Aregbesola also took loans for road projects.
Federal Government has paid back to Osun and
the current governor earned the money.
“The biggest loan that is creating problem is
the bailout loan by the Federal Government. If
you remember, it was given to all the states for
payment of salaries. The governor of Osun is a
very petty, funny and strange fellow. Oyo State
owed salaries under former Governor Abiola
Ajimobi and they also took bailout. How many
times have you heard Governor Makinde who is
from an opposition party complaining about the
bailout loan taken by Ajimobi?
“To us it is not about loan. Oyetola and his
men are only after demonising Aregbesola and
I can assure you that they have failed.
Aregbesola is busy doing his job in Abuja to
the admiration of Nigerians; let Oyetola also
focus on his job in Osun,” he said.
When contacted, Chief Press Secretary to
Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, Ismail
Omipidan, pleaded to be excused from the
conversation.
But when pressed further, he said, “We don’t
dwell in the past. We have moved on. Yes, it is
an open secret Osun is one of the 36 states
that is owing some debts, but I don’t have the
figures off hand. Only the finance
commissioner can adequately respond to that.
“However, what is certain is that the governor
in this last two years plus has proven that with
the right man at the helm of affairs who has
the right attitude and who is knowledgeable
about creative financing, it is possible to run a
state like Osun in a depressed economy
without inflicting additional pains on the
residents and citizens.
“My principal has control over his expenditures;
he’s been able to block leakages, he is
extremely prudent with the little resources at
his disposal and he sets his priorities right. He
does not spend frivolously. If you have a
programme to run, you have to think twice
before presenting your budget”.
“That is why I laugh when people try to judge
him by their own standard by saying he was
spending millions to stop someone else’s
programme. If you dare give him such a
budget, he will tell you the number of workers’
salaries the amount could cover or the number
of hungry citizens and residents the amount
could feed. He is transparently prudent”.<br><br>
Source:- Independent ng

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