Osun Revenue: Aregbesola Lied About N317Bn He Spent – Ex-HOS

The administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola earned N317 billion from Federal allocation, internally generated revenue and other accruals from the Federal government since he became governor in 2010.

This figure was N113bn higher than N204bn which Aregbesola gave as the total accrual to the state when he inaugurated the state House of Assembly on June 2.

Mr. Segun Akinwusi, immediate-past Head of Service in Osun State, gave this figure at the Osun Stakeholders summit in Ile-Ife on Thursday.

The organizers said they held the summit so that participants would fashion ways out of the financial crisis confronting the state and other states in similar conditions.

Mr. Yinka Odumakin, one of the conveners of the summit, read the communiqué:

The summit was scheduled to hold at a hotel in Osogbo, but one of the conveners, Mr. Niyi Owolade, accused the police of being used by the state government to deny them the opportunity of using the venue.

Efforts to speak to Mrs. Folasade Odoro, Osun Police Public Relations Officer proved abortive when called on the telephone, neither did she respond to the text message sent to her.

Akinwusi, in his speech, put the state’s debt profile at over N400bn and not N40bn, saying the future of generations yet unborn in the state was bleak because of the burden of the debt.

Moreover, the governor lied to the people of the state by telling them that the N11.5bn Islamic loan (Sukuk) raised attracted no interest. According to him, the state will pay 25.5bn to service the loan of N11.5bn.

Consequently, the summit tasked the National Assembly to set in motion machinery to restructure the country, saying the states did not need the handout given to them in the name of bailout but they should be allowed to prospect for resources within their territories.

They frowned at the use of consultants by Osun State Government to carry out the task which civil servants ought to be doing, a huge waste of the state’s resources and should be stopped to save the fund.

Besides, some white elephant projects embarked upon by the state government were designed to fleece the state, while they lamented the state of many of these projects, including the Ido Osun Airport.

Owolade, who is a former governorship candidate of the Accord Party, recalled that when Aregbesola visited President Muhammadu Buhari recently, he admitted that the problems confronting the state were beyond his power.

Based on his admission, the group came up with the intention of holding the summit so that participants would develop ways out of the financial crisis for the state and other states in similar conditions.

The governor had told members of the House of Assembly on June 2, during the inauguration of the new lawmakers, that the state earned N204 billion from November 2010 to the end of 2014.

He explained that the sharp drop in the amount of fund accruing to the state made it difficult for him to continue to pay workers regularly.

Meanwhile, Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC) said the organisers of the summit fled the venue initially scheduled for the meeting on sighting policemen because their intentions were bad.

Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, APC spokesman in the state, said in a statement in reaction to the claim of the summit’s conveners.

He said, “Their claim that the police stopped them from holding it in Osogbo is ridiculous. They came to Leisure Spring Hotel, saw police security and they fled‎ to one hideout in Ile-Ife.

“If their intentions were good, why did they run away from the police? If their intentions were good, why did the presence of the police scare them? Did the police officially prohibit the summit? Those guys are cowards, they should not be taken seriously.

“‎We will look at what they had on offer as solution to the financial and education problems in the state before we respond fully.”

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