Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State is seeking the approval of the state House of Assembly to borrow N16.6 billion from Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) and Ecobank Plc to finance road projects in the three Senatorial districts of the state.
The plan is contained in the letters to the House Assembly and read by its speaker, Suraj Adekunbi on the floor of the House.
Part of the loan will also go for the counterpart funding required of the state in some sectors.
The loan application was part of the 2013 Ogun State budgetary provisions for credit facilities to finance infrastructural projects across the state and to offset some counterpart funds on education, health, environment, among other government commitments.
Adekunbi told the law makers that the N16.6 billion loan comprises of N15 billion from GTBank Plc for infrastructural projects and N1.6 billion from Ecobank Plc to pay Ogun State counterpart fund for the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in line with the 2013 Ogun State budget provisions.
At the plenary, the Ogun lawmakers also mooted toll collection from road users across the state, but was later swayed by the idea of public-private partnership arrangement in this regard to ensure accurate and effective data analysis of tolls.
The bill on ratification of road tolls on the state government-owned and maintained roads was jointly sponsored by Bowale Solaja, the chairman, House Committee on Commerce and Aina Akinpelu, the chairman, House Committee on Health, purposely to increase internally generated revenue (IGR) to the state coffers and for adequate funding of the state infrastructure.
RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta
