A former Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, has said that the N407.32 billion debts his successor, Governor Ademola Adeleke, claimed he left behind were those of the regime of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
The Eagle Online recalls that Governor Adeleke on Thursday said he inherited a debit of N407.32 billion from Oyetola.
Adeleke, who spoke in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, at a meeting with the members of the State Council of Traditional Rulers, said his predecessor also borrowed N18 billion after he lost his bid for re-election on July 16, 2022.
The incumbent, who ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, defeated Oyetola, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, in the election as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Oyetola has challenged his defeat at the Osun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which is sitting at present.
Reacting to the claim by Adeleke that he left an humongous debt, including N18 billion taken after he lost the governorship election, the immediate past Governor, through his media aide, Ismail Omipidan, said on Thursday that the claims cannot be sustained.
Omipidan, who spoke on a Channels Television programme: “Politics Today,” said: “If they had provided the dates where those debts were procured, it would have been very clear that none were sourced under Adeboyega Oyetola in the four years he spent.”
He added that the N18 billion in dispute was budget support from the Federal Government, which other states also benefited from.
He said this was properly captured in Oyetola’s farewell speech
He said: “It is the same N18 billion, I want to suspect, they are cleverly claiming that Oyetola borrowed.
“I make bold to say that for the four years we ran Osun State, we did not take any bank facility and these facts are in the public domain.
“Is it possible to take a loan without going through the House of Assembly?
“The House of Assembly members are there, the Speaker is there.
“They are all alive and you can crosscheck these facts from them.
“The debts they are reeling out were the debts we also inherited from the Aregbesola administration from where we even paid N97 billion.”
Omipidan said it would have been impossible if the state’s treasury was empty for Adeleke to function.
He added: “If by their claim that we left them in debt, let them tell the world where they have been sourcing the money they have been spending since November 27th when they came on board.”