The Ogun State Government has debunked allegation that it obtained a secret loan of N85billion without legislative approval.
Speaking when she appeared before the State House of Assembly yesterday, the state Commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun said the claim was a plot by mischief makers bent on detracting the Senator Ibikunle Amosun government from moving on with its unprecedented transformation programme. These mischief makers, who she said were dazed by the development so far recorded by the present administration in less than two years in office, have launched an orchestrated campaign of calumny against the government by mis-informing the people. "Beautiful thing about number is that it is verifiable. We have only borrowed N27billion for capital projects that you and I can see in 20 years’ time", Adeosun said. She stressed that Governor Amosun, as a fellow and herself a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) cannot indulge in shady financial transactions, adding that the government has indeed in the last 22 months embarked on a financial re-engineering by blocking revenue leakages and encouraging residents to pay their taxes. The commissioner noted that this effort has yielded positive results as the state's Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) rose from the N750million being generated by the previous administration to N3billion monthly, a development which moved it from the 23rd to second position on the IGR table of all States in the Federation. . According to her, this has also built up the confidence of contractors and banks that have since been supporting and partnering with the government in the execution of its programmes across the state. She noted that prior to the setting up of the Debt Management Office (DMO) in the State, her Ministry in conjunction with the Ministry of Budget and Planning had set up a Debt Management Committee since October 2011 to ensure best practices and accountability, while waiting for the legislation on the DMO to be passed in line with fiscal responsibility. Adeosun denied that the state government has incurred huge debts and assured that by the time the administration ends its tenure, it would hand over a debt-free state with tremendous transformation. In his remarks, the Speaker, Rt, Hon. Suraj Ishola Adekunbi noted that the interaction was part of the constitutional responsibilities of the Assembly to promote transparency in governance.
Via: Ogun State Government - Official Press Release
Why would that be termed secret loan? Well i believe everything hidden would be exposed soonest