Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, has said the state is indebted to the tune of N407.32 billion and vowed to probe his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola.
The governor disclosed this at a meeting with Osun State traditional rulers in Osogbo, the state capital, 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 said he would probe Oyetola on the finances of the state and the debt.
Adeleke said Oyetola borrowed N331bn in the name of Osun State with no obvious infrastructural development to justify the huge debt.
He also said Oyetola took N18bn loan after he lost the election on July 16 and insisted that the former governor must explain how the money was spent.
“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. Adeleke also said creditors, especially the commercial banks, must explain why various loans were given to an administration beyond its four year tenure.
But reacting, Oyetola said he did not borrow money throughout the four years of his administration.
The former governor, who spoke through his media aide, Ismail Omipidan, said the claim by his successor showed clearly that he lacked understanding of how government is run.
“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 categorize 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 said.
