Osun debt profile: Inquire from Accountant-General, count me out– Aregbesola

BLESSING AKOROWOSI, Osogbo

Minister of Interior and former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has said  the Accountant-General of the state should be drilled on the particulars of the state’s debt profile not him.

Reacting to the contention that the debts were incurred by his government, Aregbesola, through his media aide, Mr Sola Fasure, said he should not be in the picture as the matter is between Governor Ademola Adeleke and his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola.

Speaking on the loans he took, the minister said the two major ones incurred by his administration had been liquidated while the other ones are long-term concessional facilities given to the state by the Federal Government with minimal monthly deductions.

He said: “I will suggest that you look at all the loans and get to the Accountant-General of the state at Abere. I think the Accountant-General or the Permanent Secretary (Finance) would have better information because it is the Accountant-General that raised a memo based on the query of the governor.

“The Accountant-General, in reply to the query of the governor, stated the condition of the loans and the loans that are outstanding. He is the most knowledgeable about the loans by the state as the custodian of the account of the state. They should count Aregbesola out of it.

“The matter is between the Adeleke and Oyetola administrations because the Aregbesola debts have been liquidated. It was not Aregbesola that took the N18 billion loan that was taken after the election. Oyetola took some other loans, including salary support from the Federal Government.

“They caused the problem for themselves. If they had set up a transition committee and if they had cooperated well with the incoming governor after they had lost election, there would have been a smooth change of government.

“They would have compared notes and there would be no rancour. But he was busy sowing mines on the path of the incoming governor, creating problems for him, and spending money with reckless abandon. What did he do with N18 billion? Now the new government is fighting back. If the new government takes the matter up to the EFCC, there would be problems for the Oyetola administration.

“They should count Aregbesola out of their problems because out of the three loans he took, two have been liquidated. It is only the long-term debt that is remaining and only the Accountant-General can give us the status of the loan because it is no longer what it was because deductions are being made.

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