12yrs of APC’s administration plunged Osun into debt—Adeleke

Tunde Adeleke, Osogbo

The Osun State government on Tuesday disclosed that the 12 years of the All Progressive Congress (APC)-led administration plunged the state to local and foreign indebtedness.

This was contained in a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, while reacting to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics listing Osun as number ten among states with high debt service payments.

Alimi stressed that the apparent rise in the monthly loan repayment on the state’s foreign loan was not because of any new borrowing but a consequence of the nation’s weak currency following the devaluation of the naira.

The statement partly reads, ” The public would kindly recall that repayment on foreign loans is usually done based on the prevailing exchange rate of the local currency (Naira) to the US dollar.

“It is also important to put on record that Osun State was plunged into high local and foreign indebtedness in the 12 years of APC government in the state.

“As the repayment is done in line with the prevailing rate, there is an increase in the naira value of the monthly loan repayment on the foreign loan portfolio of all the States of the Federation.

“The NBS report picked by the opposition platform had noted as follows: “Osun State, located in Nigeria’s southwest, is culturally known for the Osun-Osogbo Festival. In 2024, Osun recorded N3.4 billion in external debt service costs, up from N1.57 billion in 2023. This represents an increase of N1.83 billion or about 116%”

“The inevitable increase, therefore, is not only peculiar to Osun, rather, it is applicable to all the States and the Federal government.

“The public is assured that the state financial management is responsible and sustainable without any new indebtedness.”