The Osun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has described as deceptive the recent claim made by the State Deputy Governor, Otunba Titi Laoye Tomori that the state’s indebtedness was being exaggerated by the opposition.
The party Chairman, Hon. Soji Adagunodo, in a release issued on Monday accused Mrs. Tomori of playing the ostrich by allegedly pretending not to know “that the humongous debt incurred by the Agrebesola-administration in the last 7 years are not only unsustainable but were spent mainly on phantom projects which served as conduit pipe for the looting of the state treasury.”
He queried saying “What happened to the monies borrowed for the Osogbo-Ikirun-Ila Odo road; the Gbongan to Akoda road; the Airport in Iddo Osun; the Water projects in Ede and Ilesa as well as many other such projects?”
While making reference to a recent report by a budget transparency and accountability organization BUDGIT, the PDP said Osun state economy can hardly sustain the almost N400billion debt which the Aregbesola administration has thrown it into through its recklessness, cluelessness and utter disregard for due process.
According to Adagunodo, “For the avoidance of doubt, this is what BUDGIT said about this same natter in its October 2017 report which declared Osun as being insolvent “Many economists and analysts report that Osun State’s planning model was defective, due to the wide variance between its Revenue and its Expenditure projections. The State’s budget plan estimated a spend of N88.14bn in 2011, despite estimated Revenue for the fiscal year being at N54.8bn. Osun State followed the same trajectory in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with estimated expenditure projected at N150.13bn, N234bn and N216bn, as against estimated revenues of N55.97 bn, N 61.89bn and N57.16bn respectively. Such wide targents between annual budgets and actual spending are the first signals of a financial disaster certain to happen”
“Was this also an opinion of the opposition in the logic of the State Deputy governor or was she just being hypocritical about the true state of finances of the State?
“The PDP as a political party and indeed every well meaning citizen of Osun is concerned about the increasing inability of the state government to meet its financial obligations to workers and pensioners who are being owed arrears of their entitlements for a period ranging from 6 to 25 months as well as many contractors who have since abandoned most construction site.”
The party therefore advised the Deputy Governor to refrain from further acts of deceits and distortion of facts but rather own up to the alleged failure of the Government of which she had been a part and will be called to account in the not too distant future.
It will be recalled that the State Deputy Governor spoke over the weekend at a political meeting in Osogbo, the State Capital where she accused the opposition of exaggerating the true state of indebtedness of the state and asserting that debts were not as worrisome as being portrayed.
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