Osun owes 143.6bn only - Aregbesola

Osun State Governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola has disclosed that the state debt profile was 143.6bn only and that his predecessor will pay it in 2019 and 2020.

Speaking at the a public interactive programme known as Ogbeni Till Daybreak in Osogbo, the state capital

Aregbesola explained that the conventional loan would be settled in 2019 while the N11.4bn Sukuk would be fully paid in 2020.

When asked on exact amount the state is owing, the governor directed Accountant General of the State, Mr Kolawole Akintayo to respond and give the accurate and total amount the state owes owing.

Akintayo stated that the total debt left for the state to pay was N143.6bn. According to him, "Total debt of the State of Osun was N171.4bn in the last seven years. A sum of N28bn had been paid, leaving a balance of N143.6bn debt."

Corroborating Akintayo’s statement, Aregbesola said that Osun will settle all the debt in 2019, saying “there will be no kobo left of the N30bn conventional loan in 2019, by September 2020, N11.4bn Sukuk would have been settled.”

Aregbesola said the debt profile of the state is not as bad as being speculated, maintaining that the loans were taken to finance capital projects for the development of the state.