Date: 2012-01-30

The decision of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, government in Kwara State to borrow N10 billion to finance some of its developmental projects has come under attack from the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. The loan is to be sourced from Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB. To the ACN, the manner with which the PDP-dominated House of Assembly rushed to approve the loan request, allegedly without thorough debate or committee work, raises a lot of questions. ACN, in a statement signed by its state Chairman, Kayode Olawepo, said the exact debt profile of the state remains the exclusive knowledge of PDP power brokers in the state because the immediate past governor, Senator Bukola Saraki, had refused to give any handover note. "Apart from the undisclosed debt profile, the Kwara people, through this administration, are currently servicing the repayment of N17 billion bond the Saraki administration raised in the guise of providing infrastructure," he said. According to ACN, the Bukola Saraki administration claimed to have obtained the bond to execute eight projects within a period of two years, beginning from 2009 while, in reality, only three projects - Kwara State University, KWASU; Aviation College and the Diagnostic Centre - can be said to have been executed, and even partially, too. The party wondered: "To whose pocket has this huge sum gone, whilst public fund is being used to repay the bond?" As if that was not enough, ACN, while accusing the Bukola Saraki administration of profligacy, said the administration took another N1.2 billion loan, allegedly not approved by the legislature, in the build-up to the 2011 polls. The party queried the rationale behind the new loan for the completion of the same set of projects, purportedly said to have been completed by the Bukola Saraki administration and commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan, as well as "for completion of some road projects and Ilorin Urban system for which billions of naira had been sunk during the Bukola regime". In conclusion, ACN, condemning the state Assembly's approval of the new loan, said: "The people of Kwara cannot be subsidising irresponsible and unaccounted borrowings for which commensurate benefits have not been received by the people." In a swift reaction, state PDP described as uniformed and a display of ignorance, "ACN's outburst and attack on government's decision to procure the loan for vital developmental projects", confirming that ACN has nothing good to offer the people of the state. "How can anyone question the importance of the rehabilitation of hospitals, the establishment of an International Vocation Centre to empower youth for employment as well as the completion of the Ilorin metropolis Water Reticulation Project, phase one of which has been completed and is being enjoyed by the people?" asked the party in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Mas'ud Adebimpe. The part, therefore, urged ACN to stop its practice of using falsehood and misinformation as instruments of futile propaganda and team up with the administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed to move the state forward. Reported by Stephen Oni