Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has disclosed that his administration has accessed N30billion out of the N150billion that it applied for from a financial institution under the ‘Bridging Finance’ facility.
Okowa disclosed this while answering questions from journalists shortly after inspecting the Koka flyover and Interchange, Stephen Keshi Stadium, the Leisure Park and Film Village as well as the Dennis Osadebey University, all in Asaba.
He said N25 billion out of the N30 billion ‘Bridging Finance’ loan already accessed by the state government had been deployed into some ongoing projects while the remaining N5 billion was channelled into the payment of pensioners in the Bureau for State Pensions and the Local Government Pensions Bureau.
According to him, local government pensioners were not under the state’s purview, adding that the money (N2.5 billion) was given to them as grant from the state government.
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On the level of work at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, the governor said he was impressed with the pace of work and called on the contracting firm to redouble efforts so as to complete the various projects before November 24, this year.
He said Delta was set to host the National Sports Festival without any hitch, stressing that the upgrade of sporting facilities in the stadium was to meet international standards and advised those peddling fake news on the collapsed structure to base their reports on facts and not hearsay.
“You also noticed that the swimming pools, the main one and the warm up one have gone very far. There is also additional spectators’ stand which I am told will be ready in another week from today.
“The two indoor sports halls is where I have my fears but I have been reassured that by the 24th of November, they would both be ready for the games,” the governor said.
At the Dennis Osadebey University, the governor commended the contracting firms handling various projects in the institution for maintaining standard, pointing out that the vision of his administration was to ensure that the state owned tertiary institutions surpassed other universities in the country in terms of infrastructure and quality manpower.
‘We have also seen the Faculty of Agriculture building and the auditoriums, 500-seater and the two 250 seaters. They have informed me that by the end of the year, they should be through with the project.
“By the end of December, Dennis Osadebey University will be wearing a new look. You recall that when it was approved as a university, it looked more like a secondary school.
“But the difference is gradually being seen today. As we walked past, we could see that the Vice Chancellor and his team have moved into the administrative building which was just completed,” he added.
On the Koka flyover and interchange and the Asaba Leisure Park and Film Village, Okowa said the projects would be ready for use before the end of the year.
