Accord Party kicks against Ajimobi’s plan to float N60bn bond Accord Party (AP) in Oyo State has kicked against alleged plan by the Abiola Ajimobi administration to raise a N60 billion bond from a commercial bank, warning the state legislature against passing a motion that will allow the move this week. The party’s media director, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said in a statement that while the state governor said during the commissioning of the two-lane Mokola flyover that he had not borrowed any money to finance any of the projects on hand, he had already concluded plans to float a N60 billion bond from a commercial bank in which the state was already indebted to the tune of N32 billion within 18 months. The AP, therefore, warned the state legislators, who Daily Sun learnt, were planning to reconvene from their recess this week, against compromising their conscience by frustrating the plan. The statement recalled that while the administration collected N78.8 billion as revenue last year, making it the richest ever in the annals of the state and collected N11billion monthly since January, stressing that the earnings were more than enough to enable it undertake any project, rather than mortgage the interest and future of the state. “Borrowing money or floating a bond of any sort is not only suspicious, it is also a huge drain that Ajimobi cannot pay back before the expiry of his administration,” the party stated. It said it was not a coincidence that the man used by another ACN administration in the South-West was being used in Oyo to perfect the plan and cautioned the state legislators to disregard the call. The party urged the lawmakers to cut short their recess to attend an emergency session today. The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Monsurat Sunmonu, in an interview last night admitted that there were plans to recall her colleagues from recess, but would not disclose the agenda of their proposed deliberation, as, according to her, that would have to be determined by the parliamentary caucus, which, she said, was to meet soon. She, however, debunked insinuations impugning the integrity of members, saying the House would do what it considered right for the state. Asked to confirm if indeed the House had a request from the state government to approve the N60 billion bond deal, Sunmonu retorted: “I’m not going to answer that question,” eventhough she wondered what could be wrong if the government had such plan. Special Adviser to the governor on Media and Publicity, Dr. Festus Adedayo, denied knowledge of the deal, promising to get back to Daily Sun reporter, after clarifying issues with the Finance Commissioner, Mr. Zaccheus Adelabu. But ACN, in a reaction yesterday said the criticism of the proposed bond by the Accord Party (AP) was a regrettable indication of the party’s level of ignorance about financial management. It said this in a release issued by its State Publicity Secretary, Mr. Dauda Kolawole that the provision for the bond had been made in the 2013 budget, which was passed many months ago by the state House of Assembly and assented to by Governor Abiola Ajimobi. ` `What they are saying is far from the truth and it shows their level of ignorance about financial management. If they have even done a little homework, they would have known that provision had been made in the 2013 budget for the bond before it was passed by the House of Assembly. ` `If they are just waking up from their usual slumber now after several months that the budget had been passed by the House and assented to by the governor, it is rather unfortunate and it shows their level of ignorance,’’ the party said. It faulted the opposition’s claim that the state was collecting N11 billion per month as federal allocation, saying it was another demonstration of the party’s intellectual laziness. ` `If Accord and its leader, Ladoja, had not wanted to exhibit their intellectual laziness, one expects them to pick any newspaper or log on to the website of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to know how much each state earns from the Federation Account, rather than engaging in deliberate spread of falsehood. ` `They should be aware that the level of governance in Oyo State has gone beyond their pedestrian thinking and distraction of government from the path of laudable programme’’.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 11:19:34 +0000
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