A human rights activist, Comrade Adesina Akinpelu has called on Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde to explain to the people of Oyo state, how the State incurred a debt of over N45 billion in one year.
Akinpelu stated this while speaking with journalists who paid him a courtesy visit on his birthday in Ibadan.
According to him, the debt profile of the state as released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) is alarming and requires full explanation from the the State Governor.
“Oyo state total public debt as at December 31, 2021, has risen to N178 billion from N129.94 billion it was on December 31, 2020, according to the data released by DMO. It also revealed that the state government’s foreign debt stood at $85.27 million (N35.46 billion) and N142.56 billion for domestic debt.
The activist stated that the rising debt in just one year shows that something is definitely wrong somewhere and the people of Oyo State must begin to ask the Governor how and what led to increase in the debt.
“It is so sad that after tremendous increase in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Oyo state is still among top 10 states in the Nigeria with highest domestic debt at N142.56 billion. Few weeks ago, we learnt that the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC arrested the State Accountant-General over alleged diversion of public funds. There is more to all these and Oyo state people need to be on the lookout on how Governor Makinde is administering Oyo state.”