The Osun State’s debt profile has pitched Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Olawale Rasheed, said the debt portfolio had been reduced over the last two years following repayments by the current administration.
He dismissed a recent report suggesting that Adeleke’s government had increased the state’s debt burden and accused the APC of orchestrating the publication.
He said: “The truth remains that Osun State’s debt profile has reduced under the leadership of Governor Ademola Adeleke in the last two years. Data doesn’t lie and cannot be hidden.
“The domestic debt of Osun was N148.37bn as of December 2022, but it has now reduced to N86.06bn as of June 2024. Similarly, foreign debt as of December 2022 was $91.78m, but it has now reduced to $78.17m as of June 2024.
“What this also means in terms of figures is that Governor Adeleke has paid back N62.31bn in domestic debt and $13.61m in foreign debt. This is the burden the APC-led past administration imposed on the people of the state. If this administration didn’t inherit those debts, these amounts would have been better used for the good people of Osun State.”
The APC, however, countered the claim in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary in the state, Kola Olabisi.
He said: “Whatever he is pushing to the public now regarding the state debt portfolio is an afterthought which cannot be relied upon.
“We didn’t cook what was published as it affects the debt portfolio of the state government under Adeleke. It is in the public domain already. Where did Olawale get his figures?”
Olabisi further accused the Adeleke administration of using the APC as a scapegoat for its alleged shortcomings.
“They can’t continue to blame us for their ineptitude.”