Isiaka refutes allegation on Gateway project. A GOVERNORSHIP aspirant on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2015 elections in Ogun State, Mr. Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, has dismissed as false the allegation by the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, that N2 billion voted for the construction of the headquarters of the Gateway Holdings Limited (GHL) could not be traced. Isiaka was the Managing Director of Gateway Holdings Limited, one of the government agencies set-up by the immediate past administration in the state. In a statement in Abeokuta yesterday, titled “Enough of Amosun’s continuous and pretentious amnesia on Gateway Holdings Limited”, Isiaka said that the company in 2008 obtained a bank loan of N1.5 billion for the construction of its headquarters and not N2 billion as alleged by the governor. Amosun during a recent address in the state-owned television station, Ogun State Television (OGTV) and a private radio station, Rock City FM was quoted to have stated that the said N2 billion could not be traced. But Isiaka, who explained how the N1.5 billion loan was disbursed, challenged Amosun’s administration to publish any report “highlighting where the state fund was traceable to my pocket because none of the audit firms found or recorded any infraction against the management of GHL under my leadership.” He said: “I reiterate that Gateway Holdings never took the brandished figure (N2 billion) that only exists in the wildest imagination of Governor Amosun and his cohorts and it is unfortunate that the administration is just chasing shadows and searching for what is not lost all over the place.” “Contrary to Governor Amosun’s claim, such a figure (N2 billion) does not exist as the following information will show. “Gateway Holdings started operations in 2004 and by 2008; it had substantially raised the investment profile of the state and paid dividend income in excess of N1.5 billion to the coffers of the state, the first time in the history of the state and in 2008, the management of the company saw the need to significantly augment its working capital, especially to jump-start the operation of its subsidiaries and also opted to diversify its investment portfolio by constructing a 12-storey building to house the permanent location of the Abeokuta branch of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, utilise a maximum of four floors for itself and subsidiaries while generating income by leasing the remaining floors to companies who were being encouraged to move their offices to Ogun State.” “Follow up to the above, GHL applied for a loan from Sterling Bank Plc. The loan was subsequently approved and a sum of N1.5 billion was drawn in two tranches of N1 billion on September 29, 2008 and N500 million on October 17, 2008 and out of the N1.5 billion Sterling bank loan drawdown, only a sum of N483 million was disbursed on account of construction of head office project, including fees to professional firms. “The remaining amount was utilised as follows in line with the request: • Increment in shares, including refinancing of existing Stock Trading Account, N290,661,235; • Investment in Gateway Savings & Loans, N100,000,000; • Infrastructure & working capital funding for Gateway Oil & Gas Ltd N399,995,000; • Working Capital for Gateway Trading Ltd, N41,351,739; and • Fees, Interest & Other charges by the bank, N53,225,814.” Isiaka further stated: “In its letter dated October 17, 2011, the contractor handling the project put the value of the work done on the site and other claims at N652 million as at that date against a total disbursement of N483 million, and the letter was sent to all professional parties involved as well as Gateway Holdings. “The initial projections of GHL to pay back from capital market gains fell flat as a result of the widely known crash of the capital market. Also, one of the company’s sources of getting a breather or bridge from the equipment hiring operations of Plant gate Equipment Hire Service, the then subsidiary of GHL, did not materialise as unpaid bills to Plantgate at the time from the state govt ministries/agencies was in excess of Ni billion. “It is high time that Senator Amosun-led administration in Ogun State lay to rest its scornful hunting for what is non-existent in GHL, especially during the interval under consideration. It must be stated for the umpteenth time that GHL has been the most investigated of all MDAs in Ogun State since the advent of the Amosun regime; from the respectable firm of Ernst and Young to the firm of RiverBank Capital Ltd to mention but a few. “Ogun people are no longer fooled by the constant noise of debts owed by the previous government while the Amosun regime is daily piling humongous debts.” The Guardian.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 06:43:10 +0000
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