Osun Debt Profile: Truth Over Lies – By Jamiu Olawumi

No matter the big English, economic grammar or financial jargons you guys write in defense of the huge debt profile of Osun, the truth is sacred, facts are incontestable and Osun people know who is actually a liar.

It is on record that Oyinlola left a total debt of less than N20bn. It is also correct that Aregbesola left a verifiable debt burden of close to N200bn as at November 26th 2018 according to the Debt Management Office website figures substantiated by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Osun Domestic Debt as at December 2018 stood at N148bn. Please check https://www.dmo.gov.ng/debt-profile/sub-nationals-debts/2757-states-and-fct-domestic-debt-stock-as-at-december-31-2018/file while the External Debt as at December 2018 stood at $99million, Please check https://www.dmo.gov.ng/debt-profile/sub-nationals-debts/2881-states-and-federal-government-s-external-debt-stock-as-at-31st-december-2018/file. Osun people also know that there was a time our FAAC allocation was as bad as N6million after all deductions, this is in the public domain. People will also remember that Ogbeni Aregbesola publicly admitted on Ogbeni – Till – Daybreak that Osun economy is depressed and suffering while he was Governor and that’s why he is paying modulated salary. A Newspaper once said Osun was using 90% of her money in servicing debt, hence it was at the brink of insolvency. Dr. Ogunyemi said it on Frank Talk Rave 91.7 FM that it is a miracle that Oyetola is paying full salaries promptly and running the state efficiently without any crisis whatsoever because of Osun huge profile. Almost all the Kings and Elder statesmen in Osun have said the same thing at different fora, these are nothing but the basic truth.

On a monthly basis, huge deductions were made from the FAAC allocation of Osun State which is not hidden. Deductions are made under the following headings; EXTERNAL DEBT, CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS and OTHER DEDUCTIONS. For example, according to the NBS figures, the first FAAC collected by Governor Oyetola which was for October 2018 paid in November 2018, a whopping sum N2.35bn was deducted. In August 2019, N2.15bn was deducted from our FAAC allocation, N2.1bn was deducted in January 2020. Despite the suspension of “SPO – Contractual Obligations” by the FG since April 2020 because of Covid-19, over N1.7bn is being deducted monthly from Osun FAAC, as evidenced in the April 2020 FAAC distribution. If you calculate all the deductions made from Osun FAAC since the inception of Oyetola’s administration, Osun has used over well over 50bn in servicing the humongous debt inherited from Ogbeni Aregbesola’s administration.

On the issue of refunds, Osun under Govenor Oyetola has only collected less than N10bn from the Federal Government which was made in two tranches. Interestingly, the refund was made on the Gbongan Akoda and Osogbo Ikirun roads, as at November 2018 when Oyetola came in, both roads were less than 50% completion, in fact Gbongan Akoda was just 29.4% completed on resumption of Governor Oyetola. More pathetic is that the road construction was poorly implemented and the present Osun government is just trying to correct the anomalies of the past Construction, same goes for the many failed portions on the Osogbo Ikirun road. The domestic debt of Osun is embarrassingly overwhelming, all the figures about Osun in the public is excluding the 30months half salaries owed civil servants and pensioners which is close to N50bn, contractual obligations to contractors in the ministry of health, Agriculture, Works, Education, Information, Commerce, Rural Electrification which runs to several billions of naira. To ask, did the projects on ground commensurate with the over N150bn loan is a discussion for another day?

Oyetola has not borrowed a kobo from anywhere since November 2018, if they know any, let them write it. If you read anything outside what is written here, it is a lie, it is jargons and it is not the truth. Oyetola will not be distracted by unnecessary ranting, he is focused on revamping the Osun economy, stabilizing the growth and development of the state towards industrialization which is on course. Osun is getting better.