GOVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola has been accused by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of trying to force local governments across the state to take out fresh loans worth N9bn (£28.61m) to enable him offset civil servants salary arrears.
At the moment, about 18 of Nigeria's states owe their civil servants salary arrears, with Osun owing eight months wages and having little prospect of paying up. To make matters worse, these states are heavily indebted to banks and cannot borrow more money as the finance houses collect their repayments at source from their federal allocation.
With global oil prices at a 10-year low, the amount the states are receiving in federal allocation is a fraction of what they used to get, limiting their options further. Already, Osun State judge Justice Oloyede Folahanmi has asked the state house of assembly to investigate Governor Rauf Aregbesola over his mismanagement of public resources and impeach him if found guilty.
In response, the PDP has backed the calls for the governor's investigation, urging the Osun State House of Assembly to proceed with impeachment moves. Yesterday, the PDP said the governor was seeking a way out of the crisis by trying to force the local governments to borrow on his behalf.
To circumvent the moved, the PDP has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other regulatory bodies to show special interest in all transactions involving banks in Osun State and the Aregbesola administration. Prince Diran Odeyemi, the PDP's director of media and strategy, stated that the plan is to make the 30 local governments in Osun State borrow N9bn from a commercial bank to settle a phantom debt owed the state government by the councils.
Prince Odeyemi said: "Over the last three days, the Aregbesola regime has been holding a series of meetings with top officials of the 30 local governments on a sinister plot to use the councils to borrow N9bn from a bank, which the councils will subsequently pay into the state government’s account to settle a non-existent debt owed the state government. We understand a Lagos-based consultant who will collect a commission of N900m on the transaction has been busy putting this strange deal together.
“It is unfortunate that this is happening again at a time when millions of our people cannot feed because the APC government has refused to pay salaries, even after facts showed that over the last six months, over N12bn came into its coffers from the Federation Account. We again ask Mr Aregbesola to save our people by paying workers and pensioners without further delay because we know the money is there."
He added that the party learnt that a lot of pressure is being mounted on career civil servants to stop resisting this plot which will surely destroy the local government system beyond redemption. Prince Odeyemi called on the authorities of this bank in question to ensure that they are guided by the ethics of their profession in dealing with this matter.
“We are aware that some bank managers in the state have had their careers destroyed by Aregbesola for refusing to repay loans as at least two have lost their jobs. We also call on President Muhammadu Buhari to halt the financial recklessness racking Osun State under the watch of his party,” Prince Odeyemi added.
Bola Ajao, the publicity secretary of the Osun State chapter of the PDP, has urged members of the state house of assembly to commence the process of impeaching Governor Aregbesola in order to save the state. Urging the legislators to resist pressure to kick the petition into touch, he told them they owe posterity unborn generations the opportunity to save Osun State before it collapses irretrievably.
