Date: 2012-01-24

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) joined yesterday the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to caution the Kwara state government against obtaining a N10 billion loan it says is needed to undertake some key projects across the state. AD had , at the weekend argued that the loan, which was approved by state legislatures after deliberations last week, was premature coming on the heels of a recent allocation of huge sums to states of the federation. The Kwara State House of Assembly had last week approved the loan after deliberations on a letter from Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed which requested the lawmakers' approval of the loan sourced from a commercial bank to finance some projects initiated by the immediate past administration of ex-governor Bukola Saraki. The lawmakers were of the opinion, during the debate, that the money would come in time to help execute projects with direct benefits to Kwarans. Projects to be financed by the loan, according to the letter read on the floor of the House, include Vocational Centre at Ajase Ipo, Kwara State University, Cargo Terminal, Metropolitan Square, Ilorin Metropolis Water Reticulation Projects, Ultra Modern Diagnostic Centre and International Aviation College, Ilorin. But the AD in a statement by its state chairman and secretary, Buliaminu Aliu and Michael Ologunde respectively said there was no need for the loan and if indeed there was a need, the government must indicate a practical breakdown of how it would be expended in order to secure public support for the move. Yesterday, the ACN issued a statement on the loan which it descried as dubious, sheer profligacy and disrespect for the Kwara public. The statement was signed by the party's state chairman, Mr. Kayode Olawepo. The statement reads: "We wish to dismiss as sheer profligacy and disrespect for the Kwara public the decision of the PDP government in the state to borrow N10 billion to, as they claim, sponsor some phoney developmental projects. The hurried manner with which the PDP-dominated House of Assembly rushed to approve the request, without any thorough debate or committee works, raises many questions. "In the first three months of Ahmed's government, between April and June, Kwara alone got more than N16b as federal allocations. Triple that amount has accrued to the state since then; yet, the dearth of infrastructural, for which Kwara is notorious, remains just as bad. We cannot pin those huge funds down to any appreciable capital projects executed by this administration. "Yet the exact debt profile of Kwara remains the exclusive knowledge of PDP power brokers. Apart from the undisclosed debt profile, the Kwara people, through this administration, are currently servicing the repayment of N17b bond the Saraki administration raised in the guise of providing infrastructure."