From Joseph Obukata, Warri
Controversy seems to be trailing the N12 loan facility approved for Governor Ifeanyi Okowa by the Delta House of Assembly as the Delta State chapters of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are again enmeshed in a war of words over the loan facility.
Governor Okowa had in a letter read by the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori, last week said that the state was expecting a bridging finance credit from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to cushion the effect of resumption of repayment of the Federal Government’s intervention facilities on the expiration of the forbearance period.
The governor had while presenting the loan request before the assembly, said that the load would help defray arrears of unpaid certificates earned by contractors with respect to the completion of some critical ongoing legacy projects awarded by this administration.
But Delta APC in a statement by its Publicity Director, Dr Omene Odafe, said that the PDP-led administration of Okowa, allegedly connived with the state Assembly to obtain the “humongous loan of 12 billion naira in a most opaque manner”
Claiming that the purpose of the loan was “highly questionable” and of absolutely no relevance whatsoever to the good people of Delta State, the APC accused the PDP-led administration of financial recklessness.
The party said the loan facility was ‘highly suspicious and insulting transaction’ given the current robust financial status of the state.
Dr Odafe said that APC would ensure that every dime misappropriated or unaccounted would be recovered and plugged back into the state coffers at the right time.
The party, while rejecting the approved loan with a capital “NO”, frowned at excessive borrowing which it alleged would end up in the pockets of a few.
But in a counter-reactions, the State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Dr Ifeanyi Osuoza, in a statement on Monday, said that only a party with ‘small brain’, whose sham focus is to attack and denigrate, would want to hide the fact that Governor Okowa actually obtained approval for the loan.
Describing the APC statement as a ‘cheap and a non-event’, Osuoza accused the APC new exco of trying to show presence in Delta by casting aspersions on Okowa-led administration and reducing to a trifle, a serious aspect of governance involving the sourcing of funds to execute government projects.
Osuoza said that APC aim was to sell a dummy to Deltans by attempting to paint the actions of Okowa, the PDP and the Assembly in a bad light.
He said the APC claims that the loan was “highly questionable purposes of absolutely no relevance whatsoever to the good people of Delta State”, was spewed for mischief and misled discerning minds.
Recalling Okowa’s letter, Osuoza said that the governor had in his letter to the House of Assembly stated: “This bridging finance sum is to be received in six equal consecutive monthly instalments of N3.037 billion.”
He also quoted Okowa as saying that the facility would help the state take advantage of the subsisting dry season to galvanise contractors toward completing and achieving significant milestones in the ongoing projects.
The governor had said: “This became necessary to secure bulk funds at minimal costs, pending complete receipts of the Federal Government Nigeria (FGN) bridging finance credits in May 2022.”
According to Osuoza, “This certainly made no sense to the APC, the party with the small brain, whose sham focus is to attack and denigrate the good works of the PDP administration. Unfortunately for them, the good people of Delta State know better and cannot be persuaded to think along the biases of the opposition against the person and government of Governor Okowa and the PDP.”