Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada The Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has described as mere exaggeration the N165.91bn debt burden hanging on the state.
The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative had claimed that the state’s N165.91bn debt should be of great concern to the state.
The Federal Government agency said this in a recent report it released which listed Osun State as the third most indebted state in the country.
But the governor, in a statement issued by Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Semiu Okanlawon, said the debt being touted as huge could not be compared with the development that the state had witnessed in the last six years.
Aregbesola said those criticising his administration for borrowing were ignorant of what governance was all about, saying the funds were judiciously spent for developmental projects which would transform the economy of the state very soon.
He stated that if the N165bn debt was divided by the four million population of the state, the burden each person would bear out of this debt was just N2,031.25.
The statement partly read, “To analyse this alleged N165bn debt, Osun is made up of four million people. Four million residents are here in Osun and this debt anyway has been transformed largely to a bond organised by the Federal Government that would last for 20 years.
“Let us now divide N165bn by four million people for 20 years. To help you mathematically, this will give N2,031.25 as cost of N165bn debt to every resident of Osun per annum.
“Ironically, this debt that people are shouting and crying about summed up to N5:56 per person daily. This practically means that every Osun resident carries a burden of N5.56 per day.
“This government we are talking about that puts burden of N5:56 on every citizen of the state, thus feeds every pupil in the public school with N70 every school day.”
