As mixed reactions trail the N6.23 million received by Osun State from the Federation Account for the month of February, as against the N2.4 billion monthly allocation accruable to the state from the Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC), the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS), has said that Governor Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola owes the people an explanation as to what led to such a drastic shortfall, especially as other states went home with an aggregate of over one billion naira.

The group also warned the Federal Government against releasing any kobo to Aregbesola for embarking on federal road projects. The group urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to come to Osun with a view to re-awarding federal road projects, in order to save scarce funds from being diverted by Aregbesola and his cronies, adding: “Releasing any fund to Aregbesola on federal road projects in the state would go the same way of the over N52 billion loan obtained on the said roads project by Aregbesola’s government, none of which saw the light of the day. The funds were diverted into the private purse of the governor’s cronies, pretending to be contractors of the project.”

The coalition which is the umbrella body of over 20 human rights, community and faith-based organisations in the state, demanded public explanation from the governor on the debt regime of Osun State, given the claim by informed sources that 99.8 per cent of its monthly allocations were used to service the huge debt incurred by Aregbesola’s administration, which has made life miserable for the generality of Osun people, particularly the workers.

It added that releasing any fund to Governor Aregbesola on the federal roads Project in the State, would go the same way of the over fifty-two billion naira (N52billion) gargantuan loan obtained on the said roads project by Aregbesola’s government which the project did not see the light of the day till today, than making the road to become a death trap for those who were plying the roads in the state and also diverted the loan into the purse of the governor’s cronies, pretending to be contractors of the project.

In a statement issued by the Directorate of Media and Strategy and signed by its Chairman, Comrade Alimi Sulaiman Adeniyi and made available to News Express, the group urged Aregbesola to tender unreserved apology to the people for plunging the state into debt regime, which made life unbearable for the citizenry. The statement described the development as sad, unusual and crime against humanity and God, adding that Aregbesola’s government is a ‘political insurgency’ in the political history of the state.

The coalition, therefore, urged the good people of the state to “always salute and commend the courageous and incorruptible Judge of Osun State High Court, Justice Olamide Folahanmi Oloyede who, in June 2015, authored the 39-page letter to the rubber stamp-members of the State House of Assembly, calling for credible and forensic investigation into Osun public funds under the watch of Mr Aregbesola.” The statement lauded the judge’s courage to speak the truth to the power that be in the state, without fear or favour, adding that Osun people should be praying for Justice Oloyede, for exposing what was hidden on the finances of the state.

The CSCEOS’ statement flayed Aregbesola for saying that his government would not be able to pay its workforce their March 2016 salaries due to the N6.23 million collected from the February allocation, noting: “This is high time for the people of the state to prevail on Mr Aregbesola to come out and inform the good people of Osun State, at home and abroad, the total figure and source of the loan obtained by Aregbesola’s administration and at what time the loans were obtained for what purpose and when the state begins the payment and end the payment. Governor Aregbesola should not hesitate to tell the people of the state, how and when the boom in our allocation became insatiable for the running of the state that led the state to the collection of the loan to that extreme. No doubt that Osun State has become bankrupt under Aregbesola, and the development is having serious impact on the lives of the citizenry.

“Osun is the worst state Nigeria today, with high debt profile. Federal Government should know one thing about the state under Aregbesola’s watch: it has been destroyed beyond redemption. Mr Aregbesola had diverted all the loans obtained in the names of one project or the others, including Federal Government roads in the state into the private purse of his cronies. This is what the state’s meagre monthly allocations have been deducted to pay back now.”

•Photo shows Governor Aregbesola.

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