Date: 2015-11-16

The Kwara State Government has advised the state chapter of People's Democratic Party (PDP) to properly educate itself about government programmes instead of misleading the public.

In a statement issued in Ilorin, the state government condemned as misleading a claim by the state publicity secretary of the PDP, Mr. Rex Olawoye, that it has taken up to five bonds in the last five years.

The state government said the previous administration of Dr. Bukola Saraki obtained a N17b bond in 2009 to fund major infrastructure projects in the state which was paid off in August 2013.

Continuing, the state government wondered where the PDP got the figures of N23b and N30b bonds referred to in the said interview and advised the opposition party to seek clarification instead of misleading the public with phantom figures.

Setting the records straight, the state government said the proposed N20b, when approved, will be utilised for reviving ongoing projects on road, education, health, energy, water and sports as well as new ones that were stalled following the drop in FAAC allocation to the state from N3.2b monthly to N1.8b monthly.

Stressing that the temporary reliance of the state government on federal government bail out funds for the payment of salaries was not peculiar to the state, the statement said many others, including those controlled by the opposition PDP, had received bailout for salary payment. Nevertheless, the statement continued, government emphasised that Kwara State was one of those with the lowest levels of salary arrears.

Government also emphasised that the proposed N20b bond was a strong indication that the state economy was robust as no bank will lend money without demonstration of proven capacity to repay.