Oyo APC kicks as govt approves N100bn bond

The Oyo State Executive Council, on Tuesday, approved the issuance of a N100 billion private bond tagged “Oyo Prosperity Bond” to facilitate the execution of priority projects that will further drive economic development in the State.

This was contained in a statement by state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatubosun.
Olatubosun disclosed that the fund would be raised in two tranches of N50 billion each for the construction of the 50-kilometre Iseyin-Ogbomoso road, the Ibadan Circular Ring-Road and Ibadan Airport upgrade.

The fund will also cover the development of Ibadan Dry Port and rail corridor that he said would serve as economic hubs of the state.

Olatunbosun added that the state will also construct and upgrade one government hospital in each of the three senatorial districts of the state.

In addition, the 21-kilometre Airport – Ajia – New Ife Express Road with a spur to Amuloko in Ibadan would also benefit from the alternative project funding approach of the state government.

According to Olatunbosun, the construction of Iseyin – Ogbomoso will help to save manhours spent on travelling and reduce vehicular accidents associated with dilapidation of the road.

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In addition, N8.52 billion is to be expended on the 21km Airport – Ajia – New Ife Express Road with a spur to Amuloko to be executed by Messrs Peculiar Ultimate Concerns Ltd.

The project funding, Wasiu explained, would be in the form of Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA), which allows for Public-Private Partnership for funding of infrastructural projects in the State.

“With this approach in place, there will be a transfer of projects’ risk to the private entity while the hassle of debt management office (DMO) approval would be avoided and the quality delivery, as well as quick completion of the project, would be ascertained,” Olatubosun said.

Major opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) described the approval for N100billion bond as another needless borrowing styled as a bond.

In a statement by the party’s publicity secretary, Azeez Olatunde, the Oyo APC bemoaned that the Makinde’s government continued to increase the state’s debt profile without evidence of justifiable use of loans acquired in the past one year.

The party pointed to the state Assembly’s approval of N7.6billion loan for Akufo and Eruwa farm settlements and N22. 5 billion infrastructure loan with the projects yet to see the light of the day.

The party wondered what informed government’s decision seeking to finance projects like the Ibadan Circular Road by directly seeking for loan.

Noting that the Makinde government met ENL Consortium as a contractor for the Ibadan Circular Road Project, on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Model, the Oyo APC described as baffling the decision to abandon such model only to seek for loans to finance the same project.

The party explained that the project was meant to be operated on “Build-Operate-Transfer”(BOT)Model where ENL Consortium will source for the funds, toll it upon completion and transfer it to the government having realised their investment fund without interference.

Aside from the Ibadan Circular Road Project, the Oyo APC regarded the state government seeking to commit part of the Bond to financing the Ibadan Airport as laughable.

According to the Oyo APC, the Makinde government should rather have lobbied the Federal Government through FAAN to upgrade the Alakia Airport.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE