For some Edo State indigenes, the recent debt revelation by the Debt Management Office, DMO, to the effect that Edo State ranks among the first two highest debtors, coming just after Lagos State, has become “a thing of serious concern”
AfterLagos with a debt profile of $1.43bn which represents 33.81 per cent of the foreign sub-national debt portfolio, Edo State comes second with a foreign debt portfolio of $276.25m representing 6.53 per cent of the sub-national foreign debt portfolio.
In August 2015, shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office, he had written the Senate, seeking approve for World Bank’s Development Policy Operation loan of $75 million for Edo State, whichas graciously approved by the lawmakers.
The $75 million dollars loan is the second tranche of a $225 million dollar Development Policy Operation loan approved for the state by the World Bank.
But Mattew Urhogbide, PDP Edo South, moved against the loan , arguing that there was the need for the Senate to verify some of the claims made by the state government on the usage of the first tranche of the loan.
“I am not standing to oppose what has been granted by Mr. President or the desire of the state government. I am here to look at some of the views expressed by the people on the things that have been done with the first tranche.
Other highly indebted sub-national governments (in terms of domestic debts) include Cross River N167.96bn; FCT N164.25bn; Ekiti N118.01m; Kano N117.08bn; Plateau N100.37bn and Imo N98.78bn.
Cosmos Osadolor, a renowed economist, laments the rationale behind such huge debt by a State that barely manages to pay salary adding that such huge debt only positively reflects on the extravagant life style of public office holders.
Edo Concerns Vanguard, a pressure group, advocated for accountability to avoid waste. Its President, Abdullahi Usman, at a conference in Lagos said “We were sad that PDP government did not take us far in Edo but that party seems to be a saint in comparison to APC that has not displayed any form of prudent management of scarce resources. They are very good at emptying the treasury to fund elections but careless about the citizens. This huge debt is a bondage to Edo”
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