• I left
over N20b in state coffers
Ex-governor
Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State has debunked the claims by Governor Oluwarotimi
Akeredolu that his administration inherited N220 billion debt.In a
statement by
his former Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, Mimiko disclosed
that he left over N20 billion in the state coffers.
Akeredolu,
had while inaugurating his new commissioners on Wednesday, said he inherited “a
staggering debt totaling N220, 588,125,731.00.”He quoted the figures to include
internal and external debts, unpaid salaries and allowances, state pension
liabilities and gratuities.
Akeredolu
also refuted Mimiko’s claim that he left over N20 billion in the state coffers
even before the expiration of his two-term tenure on February 24, 2017, which
he said took six months for a counter-claim.
According to
Akeredolu, the liquid assets that he met from all banks balances, fixed
deposits, balance in bond, portfolio management account and Ondo State Oil
Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) totaled N9, 956,594,630.36.
But Mimiko
said, without mincing words: “We are concerned by the figures in the speech and
feel obliged to put the records straight.“For the avoidance of doubt, our
administration left about N20 billion in the coffers of the state at its exit
on February 2017. This include: N7.37 billion in the current account, N7.53
billion in fixed deposit; N1.2 billion in the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)
account, $346,000 and 443,000 Euro in the domiciliary account and N825 million
Sure-P fund in the local government account.”
He further
explained that most of the money, which came late during his tenure was
purposed to offset the salary arrears owed to the workers, before the then
accountant general disappeared.
“On the
figures listed as external debt, it is necessary to state the following. Our
administration did not incur any foreign debt in all its eight years. Also, the
external debt stock as at February 2017 was $49, 958,268.49, which (if
translated at one $ = N305) is N15.23 billion.
“All of this
external debt stock was inherited from previous administrations. Again, we did
not contract any external loan for all of our eight years. We are aware of the
fact that government is a continuum, we continued to service the debts, some of
which spanned over 20 years,” he said.
He added
that internal debt profile was at N53.159 billion, comprising mainly of salary
bailout loan of N13.76 billion, Excess Crude Account loan of N9.79 billion,
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) restructuring Federal Government of Nigeria Bond
N4.13 billion, CBN budget support N7.5 billion and Ondo State 7-Year bond of
N17.6 billion.
The former
governor pointed out that, of all the listed indebtedness, his government only
directly incurred the seven-year bond to build major infrastructure across the
state.
He urged the
people and Akeredolu to visit the Debt Management Office and the Nigeria
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) for the true debt status
of the state.
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