Osun Government says the claim by former finance commissioner of the state, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro, regarding the finances under Governor Adegboyega Oyetola is a misrepresentation of facts and outright lies against the person of the governor and the government he superintends over.
While insisting that the state under the Oyetola administration is not a spendrift, it challenged the Bolorunduro to be courageous enough to tell the whole world the truth about his inglorious years where one-month salary was paid four times at intervals.
In a statement by the State Commissioner of Information and Civic Orientation, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, entitled: “Wale Bolorunduro: An asset or complete liability?” the government said: “To begin with, his claim to have used his contacts to raise funds to modernize Osun is not only false but also ridiculous. For God’s sake, how can a single member of a State cabinet under the leadership of a Governor arrogate such glory to himself? For instance, he claimed to have used his relationship with the Governor of Central Bank (‘my former boss’, he said) to facilitate a two billion naira revolving fund for micro, small and medium farmers, traders and artisans ‘without issuing an ISPO, for any monthly deductions from FAAC…’
“Nothing can be farther from the truth. The said amount was disbursed by the Federal Government through the CBN to all the states of the federation under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Fund (MSMEDF).
“For clarity purpose, the referenced fund was actually put in place by the FG to galvanise entrepreneurship activities across all the states in the country! In Osun, in line with the requirements of the fund, Osun Micro Credit Agency (OMCA) was employed as a vehicle to access the loan in 2014.
“Contrary to Bolorunduro’s claim however, an ISPO was actually issued by him on the State’s local government’s accounts, and the referenced funding was further supported by a Bank Guarantee among other comforts. The former commissioner was simply struggling to sidestep the fact that the State’s finance was in a very precarious situation such that the required ISPO could not be accommodated on the state’s statutory account.
“Bolorunduro needs to be reminded further of the bad condition he left the state’s finances due to his many bad financial decisions and unwholesome practices leading to unsustainable level of debts in the State at that time.
“To date, the State is still missing opportunities particularly from development partners on the account of the bad position of the State’s finance arising from Bolorunduro’s unpopular stewardship.”