The Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State has asked the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, to account for the N17 billion bond it got on behalf of the state, which was allegedly kept in a secret bank account.
The party, which is the main opposition party in the state, also urged the governor to stay in the state and face governance instead of gallivanting around the country as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum.
However, the state government said it had expended the funds on some projects that would soon be inaugurated for people’s use.
Speaking on Tuesday in Ilorin at the inauguration of its ratified state executive members, the PDP chairman, Alhaji Babatunde Mohammed, said that the government took a N35 billion bond to execute projects but failed to expend the money on them.
“As of press time, the government is yet to update Kwarans on the situation with the N17 billion outstanding from the N35 billion loan, which they claimed was kept in an undisclosed bank after using a certain amount for unreasonable, petty projects which are not beneficial to Kwarans.
“It is so disappointing and unfortunate that despite all this cash inflow, Kwara’s debt profile, which was around N30.2 billion as of March 2018, has been increased to around N110bn as of 30th September 2022, just three years of the administration.”
Mohammed also told the government to account for the N134 billion generated by the Kwara state Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS) in the last three years and the over N200 billion allocation the state got from the Federal government.
“As of October 2022, the state had received over two hundred billion naira (N200bn) from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), adding this figure to about fifty-three billion loans (N53bn) the government accessed in her first year, the N7.1bn UBEC grant, over N9bn grants for the Health sector.
“Summing all these together without the various undisclosed grants and financial aids from foreign and local donor agencies, it is clear that Kwara state has received about four hundred and fifty billion in revenue between 2019 and 2022. If those undisclosed grants and foreign aids are uncovered and added, more than half a trillion naira have been accrued to the state since 2019.”
He said, “It is worrying that despite this huge cash inflow to the state, Kwarans could not see anything across the state that commiserate with the income and huge debt imposed on the state since 2019. For example, this is the only government that has broken a negative record that in almost five years, the Governor has not been able to commission a single infrastructural project that is fully state-funded from start to completion. This is the first time Kwarans will witness such a calamity since 1999.
The PDP also advised the governor to stay in the state and face governance instead of going to Abuja in disguise of the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, adding that he should emulate the former governor of the state, Dr Bukola Saraki, who had held a similar position in the past without making governance in the state to suffer.
Those inaugurated into the state working committee to fill the vacant offices include Alhaji Idris Mudashiru as the State Deputy Chairman; Mallam Abdulrahman Kayode as the State Secretary; Mr Olusegun Adewara as the State Publicity Secretary; Princess Segilola AbdulKadir as State Women Leader, while Mallam Mohammed Abdulmumini as the Acting State Youth Leader if the Party.
Reacting to the PDP allegations, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mallam Rafiu Ajakaye, said that the allegations were frivolous, adding that the state governor had expended the state funds on meaningful projects which the government would soon commission.
He explained, “While it actually applied for N35bn bond and was adjudged healthy enough to get even more, the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq actually accessed a total sum of N27.260bn in 2021.
“This fact is everywhere in the media. The projects for which the bond is being used have been repeatedly reported in the media, and they include the long-commissioned 11.1km Osi-Obbo Aiyegunle road, the ready-for-commissioning garment factory, General Tunde Idiagbon Flyover, Sugar Film Factory, which has Nigeria’s first-ever sound stage, Innovation Hub, Visual Arts Centre, long-commissioned Gbugbu International Market (Phase 1), Industrial Park Eiyenkorin (Phase 1), Ilesha Baruba and Osi campuses of the Kwara State University, Yebumot Adeta Oloje Road, 33km Ilesha Gwanara Road, Shea nut processing factory (Kaiama), rehabilitation of water works including Offa, Erin Ile, Asa Dam, and Afon, etc, and a couple of other township roads.
“A few of these projects are completed while many of them are ongoing and are steadily being funded through the bond as they hit different milestones. In a media exposure in early 2022, the Governor said only N10bn of the N27.260bn had been spent on the ongoing projects and that the money was being disbursed to contractors handling the projects as they are certified due for the next payment,” he said.
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