A former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator
Iyiola Omisore, has said the administration of
Governor Rauf Aregbesola took a loan of over
N480bn from various sources since he assumed
office in 2010.
Omisore said this at a press conference in Ile Ife on
Monday.
Omisore, who is the governorship candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party in the state during the
August 9, 2014 governorship election, accused
Aregbesola of financial recklessness and lack of
proper planning.
According to him, the loan burden and the alleged
continuous wasteful spending by the governor are
some of the reasons the administration has been
unable to pay workers for the past seven months.
He said the governor also wasted the state’s
resources on political campaigns during the last
governorship poll and the just concluded general
election without minding the consequences of his
actions.
Omisore said, “The principal debt of Osun State
under Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is N480bn. They took
N300bn loan, by taking N10bn for each of the 30 local
government councils.
“They first raised N60bn bond and later raised
another N40bn bond. They borrowed for O’meal
project, borrowed for school uniform project and
borrowed for airport project.
“They borrowed another N25bn. But the principal
debt is N480bn. You will remember that we were
saying this before this financial crisis reached this
height.
“I raised the alarm then that the way Ogbeni
Aregbesola was running the affairs of the state, he
would soon run it aground. Now it has happened.”
Omisore said since Aregbesola said it openly on
Friday that the situation into which he drove the state
was beyond him, he should resign honourably.
While offering suggestions on how the administration
could salvage the situation, he advised that the
governor should stop his ostentatious life-style and
show a sign of remorse.
He said, “The governor should sell the helicopter; the
helicopter has two pilots. They spend money on
maintenance and so on. He should also stop using
chartered aircraft. I am sure this will shock the
people to hear that the governor still travels in
chartered aircraft despite the financial mess he put
the state into.
“He should reduce his security votes, reduce the
Government House spending and stop giving Osun
money to his Lagos visitors. He should bring back our
money. The contracts were inflated, especially the
road contract. Gbongan to Akoda, Osogbo to Kwara
boundary and the Ring Road were inflated to the tune
of N102bn. So, the money to workers is in his pocket.
If he can bring just N50bn out from this stolen fund,
the workers would smile.”
The former chairman, Senate Committee on
Appropriation and Finance, said that he had been
assisting people the way he could without making a
noise out of it. He said if he wanted to play politics
with the situation, he would station a trailer load of
truck at the PDP secretariat and ask people to come
and collect foodstuffs.
But Aregbesola has debunked the allegations of
financial recklessness and also said the debt profile
of the state is much lower than the figure Omisore
gave.
The governor, who responded through his media
aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, in a statement, said
Omisore fabricated the N480bn figure to discredit the
administration.
He said, “Every knowledgeable person in Osun and
beyond has the figures of the Osun borrowings by
virtue of the open nature of the Aregbesola’s
administration. Osun could not have borrowed in
secrecy as the two bonds were in the capital market
and the Sukuk Bond was taken in celebrated
manners.
“While we took N14.4bn Sukuk bond in two tranches,
the state government also approached the capital
market for a N30bn loan.
“These are verifiable facts and which are in the public
domain. So, what new thing has Mr. Omsiore said
other than regurgitating the same old-fashioned,
weather-beaten lies that could not help him dislodge
Aregbesola in the August 9 governorship election?
“If it is not crime for a state government to source for
funds for the development of the state, Omisore
needs to tell us why states under the administration
of his party, the PDP, are among the debtor states in
Nigeria.”
The governor said the state owed its workers just as
many other states were affected in Nigeria. He
however stated that he was working round the clocks
to ensure that the workers were paid.
He added, “For instance, the Gbongan-Akoda Road;
Osogbo-Ila-Odo-Kwara-Boundary Road which
Omisore has fraudulently put at a cost of N102bn all
together, cost a bit higher than N60bn. While the
Gbongan-Akoda-Osogbo Road costs N29.2bn; the
Osogbo-Ila-Odo-Kwara Boundary is to gulp N17.8bn
while the Oba Adesoji Aderemi Second Bye-pass
Road will cost N14.5bn.
“However, we are not surprised at this warped sense
of arithmetic. It is this same problem that has robbed
him of basic knowledge of banking rules which ought
to make Omisore to know that no financial institution
could have borrowed a state more than it can earn.”

www.punchng.com/news/aregbesola-took-n480bn-loan-says-omisore/

When we talk of opposition acting as check and balance, Omisore doesn't come to mind.

I don't have any excuse for Aregbe's reprehensible fiscal indiscipline & insensitivity but he is & will always be a better man than Omisore...

Thanks for his Public service announcement of 480bn( like that can ever be true, even Lagos & Rivers don't owe that much) but he can now go back to his political obscurity, spend the money he looted from the senate appropriation committee & think of another elective position he can vie for...

Gov Aregbesola should tell us what he has been doing with the 50% allocation he claim to he receiving from the FG or whatever the percentage.
If you are getting 50% from FG then you should be able to, at least, pay 1-2 month salary after 4 month.
Where is the money going? What happens to the IGR? I know of a private institution that was shut last year for hundreds of millions of tax.
I am pro APC and this can be confirmed by looking at my previous posts and comments.
However, I will not support bad governance and wasteful spending.
Aregbesola should listen to his enemies to know his weaknesses.
He wasted a lot of Osun money on useless projects: erecting statues, airports that is not needed, tallest drum, feeding children etc. Who beg you to feed children? Why are you not bathing them and sew Xmas dress for them? Whose idea is tablets? How many schools in EU is giving tablets to students?
They privatised school uniform!!! Where in the developed world is that done?
All their projects is to enrich their cronies.
Political office holders are getting all their allowances and salaries; no wonder he has not been impeached.
Pay people their wages: that is what good employers does and stop replying to Omisore.
Nobody I can influence will vote for APC in the next election.

Mmmm!

He wasted a lot of Osun money on useless projects: erecting statues, airports that is not needed, tallest drum, feeding children etc. Who beg you to feed children? Why are you not bathing them and sew Xmas dress for them? Whose idea is tablets? How many schools in EU is giving tablets to students?
They privatised school uniform!!! Where in the developed world is that done?

He would still use the same format to campaign soon, i wonder if he would have governed better than Aregbese like they now call him.

Keep silent Mr Man.

Seriously, a debt of 480bill can't be true otherwise I can't see osun getting out of this any time soon.

he has borrowed 480billion yet he is owing 7 month salaries and he is busy wasting money on the tallest drum. Is this the kind of change we are talking about?

Omisore self dey talk

[size=18pt]Wonders shall never end [/size]

I no pity osun people at all
Dem deserve it
Full ishness is wen u open ya eyes to vote a goat dat is owing u salary prior to d election
U can't sow asala(walnut) and expect to reap apple

[size=13pt]Aregbe is simply a
disgrace of a governor[/size]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa yeeeppaaaaaaaa Omisoore ke

Tufiakwa!

Aregbesola please find money and pay workers money oooooo. Before people like this Omisore start to talk again.......... Omisore from where?

Rubbishesssssssss

wait! let me ask AREGBESE if dats true

Whaoo

Goan eat corn guy