Oyo group backs govt to take N22.5b loan - The Nation Nigeria

From Sanni Onogu, Abuja

An Oyo State-based socio-political organisation, Oyo Kajola Group (OKG), has described the approval of N22.5 billion loan by the House of Assembly as a thoughtful and people-centred decision.

It said that the approval of the loan application for the Oyo State government to uplift infrastructure and refurbish the health sector across the state was also timely.

The OKG in a statement by its Media Coordinator, Adebayo Ayandele, hailed Governor Seyi Makinde for the courage to do the right thing by seeking funding alternatives for the state’s infrastructure drive, following dwindling resources occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read Also: Makinde gets Assembly’s nod to borrow N22.5b

The group slammed the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) for criticising Makinde’s loan application, noting that “a party whose government met a N4 billion debt in 2011, but left N100 billion domestic debt and another N50 billion external debt in eight years, with nothing tangible to show, has no moral right to oppose Makinde.”

The body, in the statement, supported Makinde’s decision to seek loans to drive the ongoing revolution in social and health infrastructure started by his administration in the last one year.

It noted that it was confident that Oyo State people would be the best for the decision.

The group said with the way Makinde had prudently run Oyo State in one year, paying salaries as and when due, paying N3.250 billion in pension and gratuity while also matching counterpart funds in the State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and RAAMP, among others, it was certain that he would use the loan facility judiciously.