…OWES CONTRACTORS N27 BILLION, BANKS N7.5 BILLION
Okonta Emeka okelum
The true financial position of Ekiti State has become clearer with the revelation that the last occupant of the Government House, Mr. Segun Oni, left a huge debt of over N40 billion for the new administration.
Besides, Oni also owes contractors handling various projects to the tune of N27 billion while the various loans obtained by the deposed administration has also seen the state indebted to the tune of N7.5 billion.
It was also discovered that a total sum of N240.97 billion accrued to the coffers of the state as allocations from the Federation Account throughout the 42-month illegal regime of Oni.
These startling revelations were made by the Accountant-General of the state, Mr. David Ibikunle and the Auditor-General, Mr. Adebayo Ajayi on Tuesday at the Official Presentation of the Financial Position of the Ekiti State Government which held at the Jibowu Hall of the Government House, Ado-Ekiti.
The event was witnessed by the Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka; the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Olatunji Odeyemi; the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Ganiyu Owolabi; the Chief of Staff, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu and the Head of Service, Mr. Olufemi Adewumi.
Permanent Secretaries, traditional rulers and other senior civil servants were also at the event which was done through power point presentation.
Responding, Fayemi said the public presentation was in line with the transparency policy of his administration.
He said the presentation was not intended to witch-hunt, blackmail or indict anybody but to allow the public know the actual and true financial position of the state, this he noted,. would afford the people of the state an opportunity to appreciate the challenges facing the new administration.
The governor said that interest rates on some of the bank loans have already been renegotiated from as high as 22 per cent to 14 per cent while a committee will be set up to review all contracts awarded in the state during the period under review.
The report was packaged by the offices of the Accountant General and Auditor General of the state after a careful scrutiny of the books turned in by the key agencies of government as at October 15, 2010, when the illegal government was dissolved.
The financial state of the “Fountain of Knowledge” was arrived at after all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had submitted their briefs to the state government following the ascension of office of Fayemi on October 16 shortly after his victory at the Court of Appeal, Ilorin, Kwara State.
A breakdown of the bank debts revealed that N4.683 billion is owed to UBA Plc at rate of 20 per cent, N2.498 billion to Oceanic Bank at the rate of 18 per cent, N1.5 billion is owed to First Bank Plc at the rate of 20 per cent, while the state is indebted to Intercontinental Bank to the tune of N532 million.
But Fayemi had three weeks ago alleged that Oni had plunged the state into debt to the tune of over N30 billion which was promptly denied by the ousted governor through his aides.
The statistics on the state financial records were computed based on receipts and contracts from June 2007 to October 15, 2010.
The summary of indebtedness revealed that debts incurred by the ousted regime as at October 15 stood at N70, 533, 555, 927.03 out of which N43,137,274,287.79 had been paid leaving an outstanding balance of N40,049,636,361.27 for the Fayemi administration.
From the records made available by the Offices of Auditor General and Accountant General, showed that a balance of N27,396,281,684.24 was left behind by the Oni regime on MDA contracts while debts from outstanding foreign loans stood at N4,927,220,193.75.
Debt from bank loans was N7,524,627,156.00 while the outstanding balance from Garnishee Order on Bank Loans stood at N201,462,327.25.
Contract obligations entered into by the defunct Oni government on the MDAs as at October 15, 2010 showed that it gave out contracts to the tune of N71,074,695,210.15 and succeeded in paying N43,293,135,382.22.
The balance left behind for the Fayemi government over contracts awarded in the MDAs is N27, 781,559,827.93.
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