The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) continued their war of words on Sunday over the state’s N407.32bn debt portfolio.
Earlier, the PDP, in a statement by its acting chairman, Dr Adekunle Akindele, berated the ex-governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, for alleged deceitful conduct regarding his handling of the state’s finances.
The PDP, however, commended the state governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, for his transparency and accountability in the management of state affairs.
The party also claimed that the Osun debt portfolio has long been shrouded in secrecy, with negative consequences for the state’s finances, investor perceptions, and the general well-being of the people, and that Oyetola remained the source of financial and misgovernance in the state.
“From eight years as Chief of Staff to a calamitous one-term rule, Oyetola bastardised the state economy, deepened the state’s debt overhang, hid the financial mess under bogus data, supervised the plundering of state assets, presided over a huge revenue robbery regime, and coordinated an extensive nest of solid mineral bandits. He bears sole responsibility for the debt crisis.
“Secondly, unfolding developments confirmed the APC as the worst thing to ever happen to Osun state. For a state to be so deeply in debt while the facts remain unknown to the citizens is a manifestation of Mr Oyetola’s anti-people, inhuman leadership. Worse still, the state is still grossly underdeveloped despite the over N400 billion in debt,” the PDP said.
But reacting to the PDP in a statement signed by its acting chairman, Mr Taju Lawal, the APC urged Adeleke to desist from justifying his incompetence to govern the state by making unfounded and diversionary allegations against Oyetola.
The statement further read in part, “The grandstanding of Governor Adeleke is a ploy to feign an alibi for the state government workers that it would not be possible for him to offset their salary/pension arrears as a result of the alleged inherited debt in line with his campaign promises to pay the same within six months of the life of his administration.
“Is it not funny that instead of Adeleke being on ‘pupilage’ under the immediate-past Governor Oyetola on his magic wand for not failing to pay salaries and pensions as and when due throughout his tenure, the PDP governor abandoned governance for politics to the detriment of his administration.”
