Mr. Segun Sowunmi
Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has been advised to bridle his “thirst for borrowing” so as not to plunge the state into debts that it does not has the financial capacity to repay.
The caution was given recently by Mr. Segun Sowunmi, an astute politician and the Spokesman of former Vice President Alhaji Abubakar Atiku during a media chat with journalists at the Newsmakers’ Forum of the Independent Newspapers Association of Nigeria (INAN).
At the forum which was held virtually, Mr. Sowunmi pointed out that the attitudes of President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Abiodun to “guzzling debts” are worrisome as they were not matched with enough developmental pace to pay back in the future.
Likening the duo to “father and son”, he noted that they have consistently refused to graphically outline for all to see the projects and activities where the debts would be applied and how they would be repaid.
Mr. Sowunmi, a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart said the situation of “debt guzzling” is even more dangerous at the Federal level pointing out that: “The Federal Government has gotten itself into a debt situation that it now needs all the money that it can take by way of revenue for debt servicing”.
He however noted that what made that of Ogun State disheartening was that ” Dapo Abiodun has not been able to expand its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) or improve upon the numbers or the figures that we were playing with a couple of years ago”.
He lamented that “all we keep hearing is plunging into more debts and more debts and more debts” noting that: “lf you take debts to fund infrastructures that do not generate revenue, you are doing a lot of damages to the state”.
Mr. Sowunmi also warned “all those granting the debts” that: “Another government is coming that will scrutinize vigorously what those monies have been given for”.
“And in that regard, there is a precarious liability to those who are rushing to give them debts. Because, if we look at the books, we will find out that you have given yourselves debts that you ought to know that you should not have given them based on their revenue projection, then maybe you have dashed them money because you are Father Christmas”, he pointed out.
The PDP chieftain observed that though no level of development can take place in the country without the instrument of debt however noted that “what will worry anybody is the ability to pay back these debts”.
He added that “anybody who is taking debts and not putting it into projects that can show us clearly how the projects can pay for the money, that person is putting us in a very difficult situation because after sometime, we will not have such opportunity to take more debts”.
Mr. Sowunmi who was obviously disturbed by Governor Abiodun’s recent bid for another N83.5billion loan despite having amassed hundred of billions Naira loans already by the midterm of his tenure also took a swipe at the governor’s style of administration regretting that it has not been innovative and radically different as he and his men have ” not brought us any new great ideas of theirs, not in road construction, not in housing, not in health, not in education”.
“Abiodun’s men have not disrupted the economic policy in a manner that could create new feelings and new energy and new opportunities for people”, Mr. Sowunmi rued.
“He is acting like I said, like a level 13 civil servant who is just trying as much as possible to pay salaries, to keep everything nice and tight and to prevent any new great idea”, the PDP chieftain said.
