Controversy is trailing the recent claim by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration that the state’s debt burden has been drastically reduced by over 40 per cent in the past year.
Barr Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe, the Executive Assistant to Governor Oborevwori on Communications, had claimed during a radio programme in Lagos that the governor reduced the state’s debt by more than N180 billion and saved over N205 billion through prudent management.
The All Progressive Congress, APC, however, described the claims as misleading and intended to deceive the people of Delta State.
Disclaiming it, APC Publicity Secretary, Delta State, Valentine Onojeghuo, described the claim as “a pack of lies” meant to placate Deltans who are increasingly concerned about the state’s financial situation.
Onojeghuo, in a statement issued at the weekend, entitled, “Delta State: A Tale of Misgovernance and Deceit,” said: “The dubious claims of the Delta State Government and its officials that Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration has reduced the debt profile of the state from over N500 billion to about N370 billion as a laudable achievement is the most shameful lie ever peddled by any stretch of imagination.
“It is not a secret that Delta State is one of the states with the highest FAAC allocations and IGR, but with nothing meaningful to show for it in the last 20 years of PDP misrule.
“In the first place, the state got to this unenviable position of being the most heavily indebted state during the administration of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, the grandfather of the ‘prosperity for all’ deception, where billions of naira were collected in dubious loans approved by the State House of Assembly under Sheriff Oborevwori as Speaker.
“This ugly trend continued up to the very last days of the Okowa government and the majority of these questionable loans were borrowed from a bank he is alleged to have vested interests in.
“And there is no indication that the state benefited anything from this colossal amount that was borrowed, as most of these monies were spent on his failed presidential ambition, while the rest went into installing Sheriff Oborevwori as his successor.
Continuing, the statement said: “The truth behind the state’s debt reduction claims by officials of the state government is that over half of federal revenue accruals to the state is being debited at source in strict compliance with irrevocable standing payment order already issued by the state government and used to service these debts that were piled up by both Okowa and Oborevwori, leaving the state with no funds to execute capital projects.
“Delta State is now one of the poorest states in terms of capital projects development and Deltans have watched with a deep sense of consternation the feeble attempt by the hirelings of the state government to push this false narrative of debt reduction through prudent management.
“Regrettably, the only project you can point to that is ongoing in the entire Delta State is the Effurun and Enerhen flyover projects, with absolutely no other significant projects being undertaken by the state government anywhere else.
“Furthermore, you may also recall that even the backlog of the 13% derivation funds that former President Muhammadu Buhari paid the Okowa government that ran into billions vanished into thin air with nothing to show it.
“Whereas, in contrast, Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers State, used his own to construct over six flyover projects. A cursory survey of the length and breadth of Delta State will reveal that the state’s infrastructure is in shambles, with decrepit roads spread across the state that are now death traps and hotspots for kidnappers. In fact, the state is now the headquarters of kidnappings.
“Just a week ago, a former commissioner in the state was brutally kidnapped from her office in Asaba, which led to the deaths of some persons. The misgovernance and deceit of the administration of Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori have led to a humanitarian crisis that has compounded the pathetic plight of pensioners across the state who are still owed billions in arrears, with so many of them dying in penury and abject poverty without any payment of their retirement gratuities.
“The insensitivity of this administration is so mind-boggling and without a humane face. No action has been taken by the state government to bring relief and succour to the people of the state in this harsh economic situation that we find ourselves in.
“The state government only engages in propaganda economics in order to hoodwink the people of the state into thinking that they are working. It is time for the governor to take responsibility and act.”