BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BENIN—GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has said that contrary to allegations by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, that the state government had mortgaged the future of the state through its debt profile, Edo State was the least indebted state when compared with the PDP states in the South-South.

Oshiomhole

Oshiomhole, who spoke during a visit by leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, in the state, led by Mr. Desmond Agbama, challenged journalists in the state to investigate the debt profile, yearly allocation of PDP controlled states in the South-South, and “compare it with that of Edo State, then you will see how dishonest they are.

“We need vibrant media to defend democracy, to keep political actors on their toe, to interrogate those who are at the corridors of power. By and large, the Nigerian media has played that part. But we have to do more. When Edo State Government under my leadership went to the capital market to obtain N25 billion bond, the opposition PDP opposed it. They did everything possible to frustrate it eventhough all our neighbouring states had done so. As at that time I was the only All Progressives Congress, APC, governor in the South South. All the other states in the South South went to the same market and raised between N75-N200 billion.

“These are facts that are documented. As we speak, of the six states in the South-South, Edo State has  borrowed the least. Whereas our debt profile is around N10-12 billion, the other PDP states in the South-South zone are indebted to the tune of between N100-200 billion. This fact is corroborated by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Okonjo Iweala, who also is a minister under the PDP led Federal Government.

“She was reported as saying that in 2013, Akwa Ibom earned about N250 billion, followed by Rivers that earned about N220 billion, Delta about N200 billion, Bayelsa with eight local government areas earned about N197 billion, that same year Edo State earned less than N60 billion. And these are PDP states in the South South. And when you look at the debt profile, they borrow more.”