We’re Vindicated Over Claim On Ekiti Debts, Says APC
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has said that it has been vindicated over claim that Governor Ayodele Fayose had borrowed more than N50b since assumption of office.
Media reports quoting DMO figures had on Monday claimed that Fayose had borrowed N56b since assumption of office.
Fayose through his media aide denied the report, dismissing it as fake. But yesterday, chats of debts profile of all states were made available by DMO indicating that Monday media report was true, as Ekiti debt figure on the chat showed that Ekiti State had borrowed N56b since 2014.
According to the figures on DMO’s latest chat, Ekiti debt as at December 2014 after Fayose was sworn in stood at N30, 460,634,767.09 while December 2016 figure stood at N85, 049,678,107.89 two years after he assumed office.
But reacting in a statement on Wednesday, Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said the party was right in pointing attention of Ekiti people to “the mindless debts” Fayose was taking to enable him allegedly steal Ekiti money.
He challenged DMO to go beyond releasing debts figures of all states on its website to the public but go further to call a press conference to tell Nigerians about the debts profile of each state so that the governors would not hide under secrecy of records keeping to put their states in debts that would end up in private pockets like was in the case of Ekiti State.
The party also warned DMO against granting Fayose fresh loans, saying as a man that cares only for himself, fresh loans would only add more to Ekiti debts some of which he took secretly without the knowledge of the people and which he had been spending recklessly to benefit himself and members of his family.
Olatunbosun said it was baffling that a man who had consistently lied that he had never collected any loan since assumption of office would turn around to now claim that he only took N10b Excess Crude Account (ECA) loan and another N2.8b taken from Wema Bank to pay Subeb counterpart fund, even as he said that Fayose cleverly avoided stating the time he took the loans.
Urging DMO to stop granting Fayose any loan, Olatunbosun said the measure became imperative because the governor had misappropriated the the secret loans he took without the knowledge of Ekiti people.
He said: “Fayose was taking monthly Budget Support Facility of N1.3b for 14 months to pay salaries and pensions but he diverted all, the same way he diverted bailout and Paris Club refunds, all of them loans, but will still lie that he didn’t borrow any loan.
“Ayo Fayose is a notorious scammer with primary interest in amassing wealth to himself and family with reckless greed at the expense of others.
“I am not surprised about the contradictions in the information emanating from him and members of his government on the state loans/financial status.
“I am happy that Ekiti people and particularly the workers are getting to know that the self-acclaimed ‘ore mekunnu’ is fantastically deceitful and corrupt by all standards.
“Gov Fayose will surely account for all the state money he has either directly or indirectly siphoned into his private, family or associates accounts. We shall continue to expose the wickedness and deceits of Fayose and his government against the people of Ekiti, particularly on non-payment of workers’ salaries and the pensioners’ benefits.
“Ekiti workers and pensioners are suffering and many are dying, the students are being taxed, health workers are passing through hard times, university teachers and the educational institutions in the state are not being funded, yet Fayose and his family are milking our resources with a mindset of using the state money in his possession to prosecute his presidential/ vice presidential ambition and imposition of his stooge on the state in next year governorship election.”
