Aregbesola breaks silence over debt impasse between Oyetola, Adeleke; says Account General knows the facts

For the first time since the impasse broke over the debt profile of Osun State, former Governor and serving Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, Saturday morning broke his silence .

Reacting to the statement by the former Commissioner for Finance, Bola Oyebamiji on the contention that the debts were incurred by the Aregbesola administration, said in a statement that the impasse was between Adeleke and Oyetola, and so he should not be in the picture.

Aregbesola said though he took loans, the former Governor said the two major loans obtained under his administration had been liquidated. He added that the other ones are long-term concessional loans granted to the state by the Federal Government with what he described as minimal monthly deductions.

Aregbesola said: “I will suggest that you look at all the loans and get to the Accountant-General of the state at Abere. I think the AccountantGeneral or the Permanent Secretary (Finance) would have better information because it is the Accountant-General that raised a memo based on the query of the governor.

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“The Accountant-General, in reply to the query of the governor, stated the condition of the loans and the loans that are outstanding. He is the most knowledgeable about the loans by the state as the custodian of the account of the state. They should count Aregbesola out of it.”

He said the loans collected by the Aregbesola government had been liquidated, saying “was it Aregbesola that took a loan of N18billion after he lost the election? The two major loans Aregbesola took have been liquidated. They were the Sukkuk loan and the other ones were long-term concessionary facilities by the Federal Government which have a long span repayment terms. The deductions are minimal and they are not deductions that will infringe on finances of the state. The two major loans taken by Aregbesola have been liquidated.”

He said: “The matter is between the Adeleke and Oyetola administrations because the Aregbesola debts have been liquidated. It was not Aregbesola that took the N18 billion loan that was taken after the election. Oyetola took some other loans, including salary support from the Federal Government.

“They caused the problem for themselves. If they had set up a transition committee and if they had cooperated well with the incoming governor after they had lost election, there would have been a smooth change of government.

“They would have compared notes and there would be no rancour. But he was busy sowing mines on the path of the incoming governor, creating problems for him, and spending money with reckless abandon. What did he do with N18 billion? Now the new government is fighting back. If the new government takes the matter up to the EFCC, there would be problems for the Oyetola administration.

“They should count Aregbesola out of their problems because out of the three loans he took, two have been liquidated. It is only the long-term debt that is remaining and only the Accountant-General can give us the status of the loan because it is no longer what it was because deductions are being made.”NPO