Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun State, has stated that his administration will probe his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola, for allegedly racking up a debt of N407.32 billion while he was in office.
Osun State’s capital of Osogbo is where the governor made the announcement to the state’s traditional rulers on Thursday.
“The state is indebted to the tune of N407.32 billion. The only fund in government coffers, as of Monday, November 29 was for November 2022 salary. Otherwise, the state treasury was empty,” he said.
The governor has indicated that he will conduct an investigation into Oyetola’s handling of state finances and debt.
According to Adeleke, Oyetola ran up a debt of N331,000,000,000 in the name of Osun State without putting any of that money toward necessary infrastructure improvements.
He added that Oyetola borrowed N18 billion after he was defeated in the July 16 election, and he demanded an explanation from the ex-governor.
“Oyetola must also explain why Osun State is owing salaries and pensions to the tune of N76 billion after collecting a N50 billion salary bailout loan from the federal government,” he stated.
According to Adeleke, commercial banks and other creditors should provide an explanation for why they extended loans to a government that has already served for four years.
However, in response, Oyetola stated that he did not take out any loans throughout his four years in office.
Through his media adviser Ismail Omipidan, the ex-governor criticised his successor for his claim, saying it demonstrated the latter’s inexperience with governing.
“Like every other state, we benefitted N3 billion on monthly basis for six months from the federal government as budget support. This money was given to all the 36 states of the country without requesting. You cannot categorise that as loan.
“So, the new governor does not understand the working of government and he should have allowed those that understand the rudiment to explain it to him, so that he won’t be coming to the public to embarrass himself the way he did.
“We also left N14 billion behind. They should tell the people how much they met in the state coffers,” Omipidan stated.