Contrary to an earlier claim by former Oyo State Governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, that he was not leaving any debt for the new administration, his successor, Governor Abiola Ajimobi has disclosed that his administration inherited N4.8bn debt from the last administration.
Alao-Akala had, while inaugurating the N174m new office complex constructed for the state Head of Service at the twilight of his administration, claimed that the state did not owe any debt and that his administration had been servicing the only foreign debt it inherited in 2007.
But in an interview on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, monitored by our correspondent on Thursday, Ajimobi said the debt left behind by the former governor included outstanding payments meant for contractors, suppliers and other trading partners of the state.
He also shed light on his earlier allegation that the former governor hurriedly withdrew N3bn from the state account during the last five days of his administration, saying the sum was withdrawn from a special account designated for the payment of pensioners.
The governor said the last administration withdrew the N3bn from the N4bn in the account which was the proceeds of the sales of government quarters in the state.
He said, “The account was designated for the payment of pensioners as well as for capital project development.
“We have since discovered that N1bn was paid to a particular contractor as advanced payment for a job not yet executed. Another N175m was paid to various contractors.
“We have discovered that there was so much inefficiency, incompetence and fraud in the system.
“We have since asked some people to look into the state finances. The state finance is in shambles.”
Ajimobi said his administration only met about N2.8bn in all the accounts of the state, saying that his major preoccupation was to restructure the Internally Generated Revenue and other systemic issues of governance as well as encourage workers by partnering with them and other stakeholders.
On the ownership crisis in the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, the governor said he had met with his Osun State counterpart, Mr. Rauf Aregebesola, and that the issue would soon be sorted out.
He also promised that The Polytechnic, Ibadan, which was shut down as a result of the students’ protest on his first day in office, would soon be re-opened as the students had apologised to him and the school authority.
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