Osun Debt Profile Scandalous, Shocking – PDP, Chides Aregbesola

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has expressed shock over the debt profile of the state, describing it as scandalous and worrisome.

The PDP is reacting to a report by the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) listing Osun as the third most indebted state in Nigeria with N165.91 billion debt.

According to the PDP Chairman, Hon Soji Adagunodo, the infrastructures on ground did not commensurate with the huge debt incurred by Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s administration.

Adagunodo in a press statement made available to CityMirrorNews on Sunday said the debt profile of the state as published by NEITI called for questioning by every serious minded people of the state, saying that the debt called for concern.

The PDP chairman said ‘the record of NEITI which puts the debt of Osun state at N165.91 billion Naira is scandalous, frightening and portends danger for the fragile economy of the state.’

Stating that Aregbesola ‘had rebuffed all attempts to make him come clean on the state of indebtedness of Osun state at different fora in the past, the PDP chairman said the party has it on good authority that the figures provided by NEITI did not take into account several other loans sourced from commercial banks in the state especially in the past three years.

Adagunodo said Aregbesola should be ashamed that NEITI said “the debt burden of Osun, Cross River and Delta states raised major concerns giving the fact that their total borrowings were found to be more than double the total revenues accruing to them”, despite his refusal to constitute cabinet close three years.

He wondered why Osun which is always on the lowest rung of FAAC allocations and a weak Internally Generated Revenue will be classified on the topmost debtors list alongside Lagos, Akwa Ibom and Delta who are all some of the highest revenue earners in Nigeria.

“This in effect shows that Mr. Aregbesola has run the economy of the state aground by deliberate acts of wastages, frivolities and lack of transparency in the management of its resources but has rather created a huge financial burden for generations yet unborn.

“PDP regretted that the state House of Assembly which ought to exercise reasonable control over the executive at a critical moment as this has become a toothless rubber stamp”, he said.

The PDP chairman called on the founding fathers of Osun state and civil society organisations to avail themselves the report of NEITI and do a diligent appraisal of the state of finances of the state ‘with a view to rescuing the from the abyss which the APC administration is desperately pushing it into’.