AMILOADED MEDIA HUB NEWS UPDATE
A group, The Osun Masterminds, has called on the former governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, on the allegations that his administration left N407.32 billion debt for the incumbent governor, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, AMILOADED reports.
The Osun Masterminds made the call at a press conference addressed by its Executive Director, Prof. Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, in Osogbo on Tuesday.
The group described Oyetola’s silence on the state debt profile as unfortunate, adding that the former governor has left the people of Osun State in a state of confusion.
It said, “We boldly stated the above and demanded action from the past governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola. It is quite unfortunate and we must note, that despite our demands in the interest of the state’s people, former Governor Oyetola maintained a disturbing silence, refusing to conduct the suggested probe and thus leaving us and the people of the state in a state of confusion.
“We are not sure if this was his way of protecting his predecessor from ridicule, but we are sure that whatever was his reason for maintaining silence, it does not outweigh the need to feed the people back.
“Permit me again to refer you to a statement credited to the former Commissioner for Finance in the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, published in The Guardian on the 24th January, 2022. The statement had followed our demand that Governor Oyetola should as a matter of urgency, demand accountability from Aregbesola over the state of Osun’s debts. We had made the demand in a press conference we hosted earlier.
“Wale Bolorunduro in the statement had asked Oyetola not to shy away from his responsibility of telling the people the loans that were taken and what they were used for. He said Oyetola was the government official who sat over all cases of approvals for allocation of funds for projects.
“We should not bother quoting Bolorunduro’s attempts at vilifying this group, lest we derail from the real intent of this press conference.
“In principle, Bolorunduro’s statement did not deny the fact that the administration he was part of, Aregbesola’s administration, procured huge debts. He was rather combative, as he is known to do when cornered, leaving the issues raised and choosing to dodge the responsibility of disclosing the true debt figure, which should ordinarily have been his. Instead of providing facts and figures in his capacity as Commissioner for Finance in the years under review, he chose to pass the buck to Oyetola who was Chief of Staff at the time.
“I quoted all of these so that the general public will be reminded that we, as a group, have made serious efforts in the past, to unearth the true financial situation of the State, particularly under the Aregbesola government.
“Recently, at a meeting with the State’s Council of Obas, the incumbent Governor, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, informed the Obas and the general public that the State’s Accountant-General had informed him that Osun is indebted to the tune of a whooping 407 billion.
“This revelation has generated accusations and counter-accusations that should never have been, if the Governor had demanded more clarity from the Accountant-general before going public with the revelation. It is the responsibility of government to ensure detailed feedback that does not leave the people in the dark.
“While posturing like it wants to correct the ills of the past administration(s), the incumbent government is allowing itself run sensations, instead of detailed feedback. We understand the need to keep emotions high as politicians, but we know that honorable handling of government business demands a more detailed and objective approach.
“The questions are simple. Who took what loan? Who approved the procurement of the loans? Who expended the loans? On what projects were these loans expended? What were the terms of these loans at the time they were taken? How far has the state gone in servicing these loans? Were there corrupt practices perpetrated in the course of procuring these loans?
“These questions can only be answered through a forensic audit of the State’s finances and if necessary, the formation of a panel of enquiry that will engage all past and present stakeholders. This is what Sen. Ademola Adeleke should do to get hold of all important facts and then present a detailed feedback to the people of the state.”
The Osun Masterminds said two former governors – Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Gboyega Oyetola – has a duty to the people of Osun State to make detailed releases clarifying the state of finances that they left behind.
“Their service to Osun will not be complete until they have done this and cleared all doubts hanging on their names. The people of Osun deserves to know how their state was plunged into debt,” the group added.
Speaking on gold mining in Osun State, The Osun Masterminds urged Governor Adeleke to ensure he is properly briefed on the issues that led to his decision to suspend operators of all mining licenses owned by the Osun State Government.
“As we have cautioned earlier, Governor Adeleke must henceforth ensure that he is properly briefed on the details of issues, so that he does not continue to issue releases that will eventually be found lacking in facts.
“The Governor, having constituted a committee on Mining, should allow the committee do its job, give him detailed report and then base his statement on the matter on available facts. The committee should look at whether or not the past government received royalty from the license operators or not? What were the terms of the license lease? What are the present environmental impacts of the mining activities and are the host communities being adequately compensated? Is there any provision of the law that bequeaths 13% gold derivative on host states?
“When the above questions are answered by the committee, the Governor will be able to make more informed statements that will not lack solid bases,” it said.
Speaking on the “silent war at the garages”, The Osun Masterminds said, “We have been getting worrisome updates from garages across the state. You will recall that we advised the Governor in our last State of the State address to handle the issue of the garages with care, knowing that it has the potential to become a full blown crisis that may engulf the entire state.
“It is quite unfortunate that till date, no concrete effort has been made to rein in the non-state actors fomenting troubles under the guise of battle for supremacy at the garages. We are aware of reports of the gruesome murder of a former revenue collector in the state and other cases of violence.
“The government must act fast and decisively too, to ensure that the state does not become a war zone. All persons involved in these illegalities must be apprehended and brought to book. He must also as a matter of urgency, make known his policy for the management of parks and transport unions so that the supremacy battle is laid to a final rest.”
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