APC accuses Adeleke of plunging Osun into generational debts

…says N81.6bn loan secretly secured by govt

…APC is known for false news – Adeleke’s media aide

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has challenged Governor Ademola Adeleke of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to disclose the true financial records of the State, accusing Adeleke’s Government of secretly signing and obtaining a combined foreign loans of $51 million equivalent to N81.6 billion.

Addressing journalists during an end-of-the-year Press Conference held at Ilerioluwa House, Osogbo, Kola Olabisi, the APC Director of Media and Information, said that fhe impression given by Adeleke’s administration of not obtaining any loans since inception is a lie from the pit of hell as part of the State’s 2024 Budget is being financed from the NG-CARES facility.

He said, “In our previous addresses, we maintained that the Senator Ademola Adeleke-led Government in 2023, secretly obtained loans in the region of N10 billion. The 2023 Audited Financial Statement attested to that fact in Pages 60 and 61 of the document as it reveals the domestic debt profile of the Sttate increased to N55.3 billion in 2023 from N46.8 billion the current administration met it in 2022.

“A further study of the document indicates that a new Finance Lease loan of N4.2 billion was obtained in 2023. Just as the existing domestic debt of N705.6 million for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security went to N2.9 billion. A N280.8 million debt previously written against the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Affairs also rose to N1.4 billion in 2023, in addition to the debt of the Ministry of Youths and Sports which leaped to N1.02 billion from N161.7 million. The summation of the additional loans to the above three ministries in 2023 was N3.92 billion.

“As if that was not enough, the state has also failed to address the concern that it secretly signed a $16 million foreign loan facility, an equivalent of N26.6 billion, to fund “Nigeria for Women Project.”

“The current administration in Osun is on the verge of putting the future of Osun State into a deep financial mess as it has obtained a combined foreign loans of $51 million, N81.6 billion equivalent, using the exchange rate of N1,600 to 1$USD. Information obtained from the Federal Ministry of Finance indicates that Osun State has accessed the sum of $20 million of N-CARES, equivalent of N32 billion.

“Ordinarily, the first phase of the NG-CARES ended in June 2024, however, the Osun State governor, we are aware, has been misled to go for the second phase of the programme. Therefore, the state has signed all relevant documents to signify her intention to participate in the second phase of the NG-CARES programme. It is called NG-CARES additional financing. The Naira equivalent of the loan is N24 billion and the disbursement of this facility is scheduled for any moment from now. In total, the state will obtain the sum of $35 million (equivalent of N56 billion) on the NG -CARES facility.”

Olabisi however urged the people of Osun, particularly the intelligentsia to demand transparency from the Government regarding the State’s financial situation.

Olawale Rasheed, the Spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke while reacting to the allegations that the Adeleke’s administration had taken out massive loans, calling the claims “fake news.”

Rasheed stated that the APC had been peddling these false claims, but the people of Osun are too educated to fall for them.

“So I thought they should have been a responsible opposition by actually coming out to commend us for what we have done, but they can do better not to be peddling fake news, because all the story of loans they have been in repeating it and we’ve been faulting it.

“How can you call N’care, World Bank matter that we even inherited from both Governor Aregbesola and, former governor Oyetola. How can you call it our matter? It’s not our matter. It’s a federal matter,” he said.