Former governor of Osun State and Minister of interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has challenged former governor of the state, Adegboyega Isiaka Oyetola, to leave him out of what he termed “his financial mess” regarding the state’s N407bn debt and account for the N18bn loan he collected after losing his re-election bid.

Aregbesola, who pointed out that the principal loans his administration took for the good of the state had since been liquidated, added that only the accountant-general of the state could give the true particulars of its indebtedness. The minister was responding to claims by the media aide to former governor Oyetola, Ismail Omipidan, who in an attempt to absolve his principal of any blame in the N407 debt profile of the state, argued that he never took any bank facility for the four years he served as governor. Reacting to the statement by Oyebamiji on the contention that the debts were incurred by his government, Aregbesola, through his media aide, Mr. Sola Fasure, said the impasse was between Adeleke and Oyetola, and so he should not be in the picture.

Aregbesola, who however admitted that he took loans, said the two major ones he took had been liquidated. “They should count me out of their problems because out of the three loans I took, two have been liquidated. It is only the long-term debt that is remaining and only the accountant-general can give us the status of the loan because it is no longer what it was because deductions are being made.”

While revealing that Oyetola took some other loans, including salary support from the federal government, Aregbesola said; “They caused the problem for themselves. If they had set up a transition committee and if they had cooperated well with the incoming governor after they had lost the election, there would have been a smooth change of government. “They would have compared notes and there would be no rancor. But he was busy sowing mines on the path of the incoming governor, creating problems for him, and spending money with reckless abandon. What did he do with N18 billion? Now the new government is fighting back. If the new government takes the matter up to the EFCC, there would be problems for the Oyetola administration.”He advised thus: “I will suggest that you look at all the loans and get to the accountant-general of the state at Abere. I think the accountant-general or the permanent secretary (finance) would have better information because they raised a memo based on the query of the governor.

“The accountant-general, in a reply to the query of the governor, stated the condition of the loans and the outstanding loans. He is the most knowledgeable about the loans by the state as the custodian of the account of the state. They should count Aregbesola out of it.”

“Was it Aregbesola that took a loan of N18 billion after he lost the election? The two major loans Aregbesola took were the Sukkuk loan and the other ones were long-term concessionary facilities by the federal government which have long-span repayment terms. The deductions are minimal and they are not deductions that will infringe on the finances of the state.”

Incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke had while addressing traditional rulers of the state disclosed that he inherited N407 billion debt from the Oyetola administration.

Ada Peter