I Inherited N220 Billion Debt From Mimiko- Akeredolu

I Inherited N220 Billion Debt From Mimiko- Akeredolu

The Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Wednesday disclosed that the past administration of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko left behind a whopping sum of N220 billion debt.
Akeredolu made the disclosure in his address, shortly after the new cabinet members were sworn-in at the International Events Centre (The DOME), in Akure, the state capital.
Giving the breakdown of the debt, the governor said, Internal debt left by the previous administration was N53 ,719 billion, while External Debt was N17,485 billion .
The governor, who further disclosed that unpaid salaries and allowances left by his predecessor from August to December, 2016, was N17,279 billion, noted that the unpaid salaries and allowances from January to February 2017 was N6,911billion.
According to the governor, “Ondo State Pension Liabilities: N4,800,965,850.00, Ondo State Gratuity: N15,043,537, 042.74, Unpaid Local Government Salaries and Allowances Aug to Dec: 2016 N9,320,568,782.41.
“Unpaid Local Government Salaries and Allowances (Jan. to Feb., 2017): N5,192,437,503.30, Local Government Pension Liabilities: N25,237,348,457.26, Local Government Gratuities Liability: N20,965,598,590.61,Contractors’ Liabilities: N39,740,423,934.76, Outstanding payment requests in the Office of the Accountant-General without cash backing: N5,451,352,494.25.”
Akeredolu also debunked the claims of the last administration that they left the sum of N20 billion, saying that they only left a sum of N9,956billion.
According to him, with a total inherited debt of over N220 billion, it should not be difficult for anyone to know that the government’s capacity for seeming elastic adjustment to cater for the people has been stretched to its limit.
His words, “There is no gain asserting the obvious; our Administration is not in any position for frivolities. All of us must gird our loins for the great task ahead. The picture is not good. Therefore, all acts with the potential of pushing us deeper into economic crisis must be jettisoned. We earnestly promise to provide the needed leadership.”
The governor noted that, despite challenges encountered by the administration since assumption of office, he has approached governance with resilient determination.
“To put us out of this quagmire, we have already commenced the process of re-engineering our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) efforts which will soon begin to yield the desired results.