Former governor of Osun state, Ayodele Fayose, has debunked claims by new governor of the state, Kayode Fayemi, and the Debt Management Office, that he left a debt burden of N170 billion.
Fayemi had on Oct. 16, during his inauguration announced that his predecessor left behind a N170 billion debt, with a promise to make available the financial situation of the state within his first 100 days in office.
Similarly, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said that the immediate past administration of Fayose had a debt profile of about N120 billion as at June.
Reacting to the DMO documents, Fayose through his Media Aide, Lere Olayinka, claimed that the state’s debt profile was below N60 billion, saying that the new governor was being “economical with the truth.’’
Olayinka, in a statement in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday, titled “Ekiti debt not N120 billion, Fayemi preparing grounds for impending failure”, claimed that Fayose did not commit the state to any financial institution in form of bonds and commercial loans.
He said that the debt was either directly incurred during Fayemi’s first tenure or as a result of the loans restructuring done at the instance of the Federal Government and the National Economic Council.
Fayose’s spokesman gave the breakdown of the debts left behind as follows; Commercial Bank Loan, N2.08 billion, Central Bank of Nigeria Grant for Water Project N163.45 million; Excess Crude Account backed Loan, N9.55 billion, Bailout, N9.08 million; FGN Bonds, N18.23 billion; State Bonds, N3.48 billion and Budget Support, N16.87 billion.
In the document forwarded to the DMO Office by officials of the state government in July, the components of the N120 billion debt by the Fayose administration as at June 31 include Commercial Bank Loans of N2.08 billion received from Wema Bank in 2016 and the balance of N18.23 billion received from the FGN Bond by his government in 2015.
Others are: Budget Support Facility of N16.9billion received in 2016 and 2017, Salary Bail-Out of N9.08 billion received in 2015, and Commercial Bank Loan against funds due to Ekiti State in the FGN Excess Crude Account of N9.55 billion received in 2016.
The document also showed Contractors Arrears of N2.09billion, Pension and Gratuity Arrears of N22.16 billion, Salaries arrears and other staff claims of N8.37 billion and judgment debt of N95.05 million.
The documents also revealed that the domestic debt of Ekiti increased from N117 billion to N120 billion between March and June, 2018, making the debt since Fayose assumed office as the governor to increase from N31 billion in 2014 to N120 billion as at June 31, 2018.
The report also comprised the commercial agriculture loan of N163.45 million and N3.48 billion outstanding balance of the Bond taken by the Fayemi administration during his first tenure.
It will be recalled that the former governor got the approval of Ekiti House of Assembly to further incur expenditure of N10 billion barely 30 days to the end of his tenure.