The administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke revealed a massive debt in salaries, pensions, and insurance commitments.
The debt incurred by the state’s immediate-past administration is N76 billion, according to the Osun Government.
Bimpe Ogunlumafe, Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Finance, stated this while briefing officials from the new administration on the state’s financial situation.
The Adeleke-led government’s statement contradicts the immediate-past Governor’s claim that he left N14 billion in cash in the state coffers.
Oyetola had added that another N8 billion is being expected between December and January from the state’s performance in SFTAS and the IGR.
The breakdown of the salaries and pension-related liabilities as disclosed by the Permanent Secretary include (I) Salary: N29,875,191,128.64, (II) Pension Arrears: N45,375,237,693.40, and (III) Group Life Assurance Scheme: N554,644,028.97, amounting to N75,805,072,851.01.
The Spokesperson to the Governor of Osun State, Olawale Rasheed in a statement released on Thursday, however, said: “the public is advised that this is not the total debt left by the past administration as briefings on other sources of liabilities continue tomorrow.”
Oyetola Dissatisfied With Blurry Adeleke’s Testimonial Presented By INEC
Meanwhile, the former Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, has express dissatisfaction with the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) decision to present blurry documents used by state Governor Ademola Adeleke in the 2018 elections on Thursday.
The Election Petition Tribunal hearing case was adjourned on Thursday following INEC’s decision to present blurry documents in court.
Joan Arabs, Deputy Director of INEC, presented an eight-page document containing Certified True Copies of Adeleke’s testimonial from Ede Muslim Grammar School and the West Africa Examination Council General Certificate of Education.
The tribunal’s panel last week Friday directed the INEC chairman to bring Adeleke’s documents for the 2018 election in its next sitting.
The counsel to the petitioners, Lateef Fagbemi who appeared with Akin Olujinmi after checking the documents told the panel that two out of the pages were not clear enough.
According to Fagbemi, the section for scores obtained by the candidate on the GCE result was blank, adding that the address of the school that awarded the testimonial was not also clear enough.
The counsel to INEC, Paul Ananaba noted that the copies are clear and readable.
He called on the plaintiffs to allow the documents to be admitted since they had earlier claimed that they had CTC copies of the documents which could be presented.
Ananaba assured not to object to the documents if presented by the plaintiffs.
Counsel to Adeleke and Peoples Democratic Party, Onyeachi Ikpeazu and Alex Izinyon respectively said the documents were clear enough but admitted some sections were blurry.
They, however, said the documents were still rectifiable and urged the petitioners to call their next witness, while INEC should be made to present clearer copies if they have.
Ananaba later called for a stand down of the matter to enable him to obtain screenshots of the documents from the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
After the panel had reconvened, Ananaba presented both colour and back and white copies made from the screenshots obtained from INEC head office, which he also admitted were not better than the copies earlier presented.
He sought an adjournment to enable INEC to bring before the panel, the file from which the copies earlier presented were made from.
Fagbemi, however, insisted that the order of the court was that clear documents should be presented, saying the respondents must comply with the directive.
The Tribunal Chairman, Justice Tertse Kume, while reading the ruling of the panel adjourned the matter till Saturday for the INEC to bring the original file containing the documents.
