THE Osun State APC is really overwhelmed by the overall superlative performance of Governor Ademola Adeleke. The opposition has reached a point of rudderlessness that it has in recent days embarked on concoction of data and muddling up of statistics to blackmail the state government. All such plots failed to gain traction as the public are smarter than hack writers from the state APC. I was surfing the internet when I came across a hilarious piece by one Sesan Opadoyin on the standing of Osun State’s external borrowing. It was hilarious because the thinking employed by Opadoyin to mislead himself to the conclusion that Governor Ademola Adeleke has grown Osun debt profile by N37bn in 2023 was at best a joke. And I am not joking. You only need to read the basis of his conclusion. Quoting figures from the Osun State Government Financial Statement for the 2023 fiscal year, Opadoyin pointed out that Osun external debt had jumped to N78bn in 2023 from the N41bn it was in the 2022 fiscal year. Therefore, the Adeleke administration had incurred an extra N37bn foreign debt, which he ridiculously concluded and spotlighted the ‘profligacy’ of the government.
A closer scrutiny of his hypothesis will glaringly explain his ignorance about finances, especially as it relates to governance. What Opadoyin tried to portray was that Governor Adeleke had obtained a foreign loan, which must have necessitated the changes in the foreign debt standing of Osun in 2022 and 2023. In recent days and faced with superlative delivery by Governor Adeleke, APC operatives have been selectively, manipulatively and incorrectly interpreting state finance and data, picking figures out of context. In their desperate bid to prove non-existing financial wrongs, they lied about state revenue and tax reports, launched a fake alarm on state expenditure and even questioned legitimate and transparent work from the Ministry of Budget and Planning. As the governor’s performance can no longer be faulted without being stoned by the people, the hack writers are embarking on a wild pose chase as the state budget performance report when reviewed holistically showed that there is no misdemeanor. The financial reports on the state website confirms transparency and an affirmation that the governor has nothing to hide. Fake interpretation of state data is worsening citizens’ perception of the opposition and spelling the APC doom at the 2026 general elections.
First and foremost, it is imperative to correct a wrong notion that many Osun APC usually promotes. Osun, just like the 35 other sub-nationals, including the FCT, cannot obtain foreign loans without the authorization of the Federal Government. This means that for a state like Osun, in this instance, to obtain a foreign loan, the National Assembly must first approve it as it is the Federal Government that provides sovereign guarantee for every loan that is accessed in the country. With that clarification done, the question for Opadoyin and most of his party members who shared his unfounded logic is when did the APC dominated National Assembly consider and endorse a foreign loan for Osun? In fact, it must be stated that up to half of 2023, the Osun State Assembly was dominated by the APC, and it is never impossible for a state to obtain not just a foreign loan, but even domestic ones without the approval of the state legislature. Beyond this, it is a settled fact that the Debt Management Office (DMO) houses information of the debt profile of every state in Nigeria and the FCT, and even the Federal Government. Had Opadoyin consulted the DMO’s data repository, it would have saved him the crass ignorance that his piece reflected. According to the DMO, Osun owed foreign lenders the sum of $91,779,393.97 as of December 31, 2022, and by December 31, 2023, the external debt profile of Osun stood at $87,247,488.51.
From the figures above, it is clear to even a toddler that Osun external debt dropped as against the erroneous impression of Opadoyin. Any reasoning mind will easily grasp the fact that the noticeable difference in the naira value of Osun external debt was due to the significant devaluation of naira. In 2022, a dollar averaged at N460, and so, it should not be difficult for anyone to understand why the naira value of $91,779,393.97 Osun’s external debt in 2022 was N41bn compared to 2023 when a dollar averaged N1400, which is essentially why despite the fact that Osun debt reduced to $87,247,488.51, the naira equivalent was N78bn. Interestingly, Opadoyin’s party is at the centre and responsible for the heavy devaluation of naira, and so it was nothing but mischief laced with ignorance to try and misrepresent the fact just to paint Governor Adeleke badly. And to the other issue of expenditure incurred on transportation, Opadoyin apparently showed no sense of objectivity. Upon taking his oath of office, President Bola Tinubu announced the suspension of the country’s age-long subsidy regime, shooting up the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, by over nearly 170 percent. Opadoyin, except he is playing the usual petty politics associated with his party, should know that the corresponding increase will reflect in the transportation cost of the government compared to the previous one. Cost of tires, brake oil, among other expenses that mobility is associated with are there for Opadoyin to factor in, and he will definitely realise how wrong he is on the position canvassed.
Opposition is a very good thing, but Opadoyin and others in his party must understand that it is beyond conjuring issues and messing the environment with unreasonable criticism. So far and going by the records, Governor Adeleke has shown a lot of discipline in the management of the state’s finances. If his predecessor had demonstrated as much as this level of financial discipline, Osun would have seen a lot of progress in infrastructural development and welfare packages as it is the case now, and not grappling with a 4-span narrow bridge as the legacy of a 48-month government.
- Ibrahim, Special Assistant to the Osun State governor, writes in from Osogbo, Osun State.
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