By Olajide Idowu
Mr Ismail Omipidan, Media Aide to former Osun Governor Gboyega Oyetola, on Thursday insisted that the administration of his principal never took any bank loan for the four years he served as governor.
Omipidan, in a statement in response to Gov. Ademola Adeleke’s speech that Oyetola’s administration left behind a debt profile of N407.32 billion, said the debt was incurred by the administration of former Osun Governor, now Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.
He described the claim by Adeleke that Oyetola took N18 billion loan facility, after losing the election, as not only outlandish but unfounded.
He insisted that the claim was made out of ignorance and mischief.
He challenged Adeleke to publish details of the outstanding loan facilities he claimed Oyetola administration inherited and the years they were procured.
“When talking about loans, you cannot talk of maturity date without talking about the dates they were procured.
“It is either that those who prepared the speech for the governor to read did not understand the implications of their position or they did it out of sheer mischief.
“If they had read and understood my principal’s ‘farewell speech’ very well, they would not have alleged that he took N18 billion loan.
“Again, even in the table they released by themselves, they contradicted themselves.
“They captured the N18billion loan (N3 billion monthly) as having commenced from December 2021 and that it came for six months.
“Yet, they claim the same N18 billion was accessed after the July election. This is why I said they are either confused or are out for mischief or even both.
“In the third paragraph of my principal’s farewell speech, he had said that for four years, we did not take any bank loan facility. But we benefitted from the N3billion monthly intervention from the Federal Government for six months to cushion the effect of deductions of budget support facility and salary bailout accessed by the previous administration, just as we have paid N97 billion from the total debt we inherited in 2018.
“I want to believe it is the Federal Government intervention they have now twisted to call a loan. This intervention was extended to all the 36 states of the federation and the monthly N3 billion for six months came before the July 16 governorship election. This is a fact that can be verified,” he said.
Omipidan restated that the administration of Oyetola never took any bank loan facility and challenged the Adeleke’s government to publish balances of all bank accounts belonging to the state as at Nov. 26, 2022.
He said when the Oyetola administration took over in 2018, it inherited humongous debt but got to work, found means of making things work and reduced the debts inherited by N97 billion (NAN)
