Revealed: How Osun Govt Spent N11.7bn Paris Club Refund

Following accusation of misappropriation of the first tranche of the Paris Club loan refund to the state by some pressure groups, the Osun State government has come out to explain how it spent the N11.7bn given to the state.

Osun government received a total of N11, 744, 237, 793.56 as refund from the Paris club at the tail of November, 2016.

The Accountant General of the State, Mr Akintayo Kolawole has disclosed how the money was spent, apparently to set the record straight.

According to Kolawole, the N11.7bn was spent on payment of salary arrears as agreed by the Revenue Appropriation Committee headed by Comrade Hassan Sunmonu.

It would be recalled that in December 2016, the state government paid four months salaries and pensions and also cleared leave bonuses with a sum of N13, 645, 546, 673.04.

Kolawole who spoke with newsmen at his office on Tuesday said: “The revenue apportionment committee agreed that the Paris refund be used in paying salaries and that the sum of N1.9bn be added by the state government to augment salary payment to local government workers.

“The sum of N8, 519,437.233.43 was paid out as salaries for September, October, November and December. Similarly, the sum of N924, 676,305.24 was paid out as leave bonuses for the four months, while the sum of N2, 496,605,100.64 was paid in pensions for the same period.”

The Accountant General noted that the sum of N1, 704,828,033.73 was transferred to the ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs for the payment of salaries at that level out of the fund.