By Nosa Omorodion
It is all over the news that Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has lamented that the debt he inherited is posing a challenge to his development plan. What is surprising about the news is not that Obaseki inherited a huge debt burden. Edo people had always known this even though the technocrat governor had been predictably quiet about it. The surprising thing therefore is that he eventually said it. That is not to say that Edo people agree with him that he has not been getting enough to do whatever he may have done so far. We are apprised of the over N20billion Paris Club Refund he got just after the inception of his administration.
It is also believed that the Internally Generated Revenue, which Obaseki has done well to keep on the rise, could well be handy in enhancing the development plan for Edo State. The small workforce that the governor has maintained is supposed to reduce recurrent expenditure. Obaseki has not done any substantial employment since he came on board save for the about two hundred non-regular traffic managers.
Anyway, Edo people are happy to hear the governor admit that the debt burden he inherited is huge. All through Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s eight years tenure as governor of Edo State, there had been speculations about the debt profile of the State. The most significant prompting to this debate was the N30billion loan he took for the construction of the Benin City Storm Water Drainage Project, which however seems to have been abandoned even before Oshiomhole handed over to Mr. Godwin Obaseki. Oshiomhole took other foreign and local loans making Edo State, as at 2016, the third most indebted state in Nigeria according to the Debt Management Office.
In spite of the serious criticism about the huge debt profile, from the opposition PDP, with the State Chairman Dan Orbih popping out one incriminating voucher or the other, particularly in the run up to the 2016 Governorship Election, the APC controlled state government never made a disclosure of the debt profile. It never even made reference to any debt being inherited from preceding nine and half years PDP government. All of a sudden, Obaseki seems to have brought out the can of worms, which we had always known existed.
Having been bold enough to speak out about the existence of a huge debt profile he inherited, Governor Obaseki would be doing justice to the matter by letting Edo people know the full details of the debt – including under whose watch and amounts taken respectively.
Critics of the incumbent APC government, which is ten years at the saddle of governance in Edo State, have always claimed that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole principally created the maze of indebtedness of Edo State. This is quite true. Virtually every administration – federal and state, has a borrowing component as part of its infrastructure development plan. However, the integrity of any government as a borrower subsists on the reasonableness of its borrowing and repayment plan, given that its existence is time bound. Oshiomhole was a reckless corporate debtor who never gave a thought to the mess he would leave behind.
Available report has it that Oshiomhole’s two successors, Chief Lucky Igbinedion and Professor Oserheimen Osunbor, both PDP, borrowed money in pursuance of their development agenda. The most remarkable borrowing of Chief Lucky Igbinedion was a N3billion bond from the capital market for the construction of the Iyekogba Housing Estate in Benin City. As at the time Igbinedion left office in 2007, he had virtually liquidated the loan. When Professor Oserheimen Osunbor took over from Lucky Igbinedion, the debt he inherited was just a little above N1billion naira. Professor Osunbor also took loans, the most significant being N2billion to pay for Edo State counterpart funding of the Universal Basic Education infrastructure development, which he never had the chance to spend. Adams Oshiomhole eventually executed Professor Osunbor’s UBE plan because Osunbor was removed from office before he could begin work with the loan. Upon the exit of Osunbor on 11 November 2008, Edo State had a loan profile of about N4billion. This is what Oshiomhole inherited. Interestingly, half of it was committed to a project he began and completed.
The question that must obviously follow Godwin Obaseki’s alarm is how much is the current debt profile of Edo State. If the PDP left a debt profile of N4billion in 2008, it is clear that whatever increase there is was created by the 10 years APC government beginning with the Adams Oshiomhole administration, of which Godwin Obaseki is claimed to have been Chairman of Governor Oshiomhole’s Economic Team.
One would expect that as Oshiomhole’s Economic Chief, Godwin Obaseki ought to have known the humongous debt commitment of Edo State. If Obaseki knew what the real status was why then did he agree to succeed the Comrade Governor? It has been well canvassed as Oshiomhole’s business associate, his surprise recruitment to displace all the foremost contenders for the APC governorship ticket and his eventual success at the general election was to ensure that he covered up for the former governor. The sign of such a pact has been evident until now. This, for instance, accounts for why the real status of the Edo University, Iyamho and the circumstance surrounding the continued lock up of commissioned the Ultra Modern Wing of the Central Hospital Benin City are shrouded in secrecy.
Well, as it stands, Governor Obaseki’s disclosure so far may be likened to untying the mouth of the bag that holds the cat. And by the action, he has stirred curiosity in Edo people. Now, the one thing on their minds is for the governor to let the cat out of the bag so they could see its actual size.
The present debt profile of Edo State is speculated to be over N100billion. The governor should just hit the nail on the head and remove all doubts about his claim of handicap by revealing the true nature of Edo State debt liability and repayment plan. Perhaps carrying Edo people along could prompt them to reasonable empathy wherefore they can offer a prayer for him to get a miracle if he cannot figure out a way out of his confusion.
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