30 November 2008
Lagos — Former Governor of Edo State, Senator Oserheimen Osunbor, at the weekend debunked the claims by the Comrade Adams Oshimhole-led administration that it inherited N9.2 billion debt.
Osunbor also denied the allegations that he embarked on illegal deductions of local government funds during his tenure.
According to Media Assistant to Senator Osunbor, Mr. Emmanuel Ovuakporie, the debts were N4.9 billion and not N9.2 billion. He explained that the debts were facilities granted by a commercial bank to the administration.
He said that if the total debt they were claiming is N9.2 billion out of N20 billion debt inherited from the Igibnedion Government, then Osunbor must be commended for reducing it in his eighteen months in office.
The Osunbor Administration inherited accumulated years of pensions and gratuities which it paid.
He revealed that the former Osunbor administration received a N10 billion facility from a bank with which it executed 37 road projects adding that it was being serviced with N400million sourced from the state's allocation from the federation account which had not even been completely drawn.
Ovuakporie said that as at the time the former Governor left government, only N4.9billion was left of the facility.
Ovuakporie reiterated that a detailed explanation of the facility, and executed projects were included in Osunbor's handover note to Oshiomhole and challenged them to verify their facts before making frivolous and malicious utterances.
He noted that there was no government including the Federal Government that had a debt-free portfolio, when even some states take overdrafts and loans to finance payments of workers salaries before allocation comes adding that Osunbor never tried such a thing.
He added that even the federal government owes and is indebted to banks and international finance agencies and therefore wonders why the Edo government is making it a big issue when there was none.
Ovuakporie alleged that the report of the Assets Verification committee, which was compiled with the aim of destroying Osunbor's government by people in the committee who are core Oshiomhole men, had a mind-set to embarrass the former governor.
On local government funds, he stated that Osunbor never siphoned funds of the third tier of government.
He stated that Osunbor never milked the local government funds and that the statement which was attributed to Mr. Felix Akabue, Edo State Chairman of ALGON had said that he was quoted out of context.
Ovuakporie added that Akabue stated emphatically that he did not say and will never say that the former governor illegally deducted money from the councils account.
He further stressed that monies deducted from local governments were done at source and were for teachers salaries and usually done to pay teachers salaries.
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