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…Says debt figure without composition is headline, not analysis
From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
A financial expert and policy analyst, Dr. Samuel Efosa, has faulted claims that Edo State under Governor Monday Okpebholo is accumulating reckless debt, arguing that a proper analysis of figures released by the Edo State Ministry of Finance shows a decline in structured borrowing and pension arrears.
Efosa, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at the weekend, said portraying Edo as recklessly borrowing based solely on its aggregate debt figure was misleading.
According to him, “a debt figure without its composition is not an analysis. It is a headline.”
He said available data showed that Edo’s structured domestic debt, comprising loans, bonds and other formal borrowings, fell from approximately N36.03 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 to about N22.60 billion by the first quarter of 2026, representing a reduction of roughly 37 per cent.
Efosa questioned the basis for claims that the state government was engaging in fresh borrowing, arguing that the official figures did not indicate an administration piling up new structured debt, but rather one reducing inherited obligations.
He said the development should not be ignored for political convenience.
On pension and gratuity arrears, the expert said the liabilities declined from approximately N57.14 billion at the end of 2024 to N48.42 billion by the first quarter of 2026.
Efosa noted that the reduction represented payments to pensioners legitimately owed by the state and should not be mischaracterised.
On contractor obligations, which he identified as the principal driver of the increase in the aggregate debt figure, Efosa argued that such obligations were inevitable when a government undertook substantial road construction, flyovers and other public works.
He stressed that public assets could not be built without corresponding certified financial obligations.
“The proper questions to ask are what created the obligation, whether the work was done and certified, what public assets were created, and whether the expenditure was properly authorised and sustainable, rather than lumping all liabilities together as evidence of borrowing,” the statement said.
Efosa, however, maintained that the figures presented a more complex picture, with structured loans being paid down, pension arrears declining, inherited contractor obligations being cleared and new obligations arising from ongoing public works.
He warned that “misrepresentation, not complexity, is the enemy of accountability.”
While stressing that the Okpebholo administration must remain under scrutiny over transparency, procurement and value for money, Efosa said that where projects were properly executed, the debate should focus on their quality and economic value.
“Politics should not require us to abandon arithmetic,” he said, adding that the people of Edo deserved to know the numbers, their composition and the results.
