Makinde raises alarm over Oyo state’s debt profile

A former gubernatorial aspirant in Oyo state, Mr Seyi Makinde, has raised the alarm over the debt profile of the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration to the tune of N115.9 billion.
Quoting statistics of the Debt Management office, that the state’s domestic debt was N115.9bn, Makinde called for caution in the state government’s recurrent expenditure and accruing domestic debt to prevent economic paralysis.
Makinde, in the statement by his media office, said he was more concerned that the borrowed fund was not wisely channeled towards revenue-driving projects and infrastructure projects that yield economic productivity.
“The Debt Management Office records, show that Oyo State owed N4.8bn domestic debt in 2011 when Governor Ajimobi took over. This has increased by more than 2000 percent within five years, while external debt over the same period reduced by just 9 percent from $78m to $71m.”
“The crave for domestic debt by this administration must be the worst in the history of our dear state. But what should worry any patriotic citizen of Oyo State is that the current debt value may have doubled by the end of 2017 because the government would have to borrow at least, approximately N100bn, to fund the 2017 budget over which we raised alarm some months ago due to the unrealistic targets and spending.”
“Debt is not particularly bad if borrowed fund is wisely channeled towards revenue-driving projects and infrastructure projects that yield economic productivity. This is where the current administration failed woefully, always throwing money at problems without well thought-out solutions, impact and outcomes,” Makinde said.
However, Secretary to the Oyo state government, Mr Olalekan Alli has allayed fears that the state government is under any debt threat or pressure.
He argued that the state government executed developmental projects, paid salaries, and ran the state’s affairs by legitimately obtaining bonds, grants and loans but not beyond her means.
“We have three levels of fulfilling our budgetary obligation which is FAAC allocation, Internally Generated Revenue, grants or loans. We are not under any debt threat or pressure. We do whatever to advance the socioeconomic development of the state.”
“We don’t allow distractions. We are a focused administration. We are embarking on a number of road projects using infrastructure fund accessed by the state. Do we manufacture money for those projects?”
“Having adopted the desirable financial engineering, the state has been waxing stronger and is able to afford whatever it does or puts in place for the socioeconomic advancement of the citizenry,” Alli said.
Though Alli said the state government could disclose her debt profile at a grand event, investigations by Nigerian Tribune revealed that the state’s domestic debt profile currently stands at about N50 billion.