Ogun State’s immediate past Commissioner for Information and foremost governorship aspirant on the platform of the Labour Party, Mr Sina Kawonise, has challenged the State government to a public debate to defend its position that the state’s debt profile stands at 35.6 billion Naira (about 15.8 million dollars).
Mr Kawonise’s statement on Friday is the latest of the war of words that the government debt profile has generated.
He said that the state was actually indebted to the tune of 293.33 billion Naira as against the 35.6 billion Naira being claimed.
“I stand by my position that a massive fraud is being perpetrated and the state is heavily indebted to the tune of 293.33 billion Naira or even more. The additional request for yet another loan of 19 billion Naira is therefore unreasonable, insensitive, immoral and in bad faith.
“The government’s feeble defences since I made my position known are a further confirmation that what we have in Ogun State is a government that thrives on lies and deceit. If at the end of the public debate I am proved wrong, I shall willingly tender a public apology to the government and people of Ogun State,” he said.
In her response, the state commissioner for finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, advised the former commissioner not to play games with Ogun debt figures.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the balance of the loans we took for infrastructural development stands at 35.6 billion Naira. Our other commitments include the 6.4 billion Naira Contractor Finance and the 16.9 billion Naira foreign denominated long term debts advanced by the World Bank and other multilateral agencies of which 14.4 billion Naira (86 per cent) was inherited from past administration.
“We have no hidden loan that can help Mr Kawonise to turn the false figures he is fixated upon to the truth,” she said.
Mrs Adeosun insisted that the State government’s administration was completely transparent.
“The road projects we have embarked on are on-going, so liabilities to the contractors are dynamic. They are not static. We make regular payment to contractors as the work progresses,” she further explained.