Alleged N155bn Debt Profile Exaggerated - Fayose tells Fayemi

A former Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose, has accused Governor Kayode Fayemi of exaggerating the debt incurred by his administration when it left office in October 2018. 

Fayose in a statement through his media aide, Lere Olayinka, dismissed claims by the Ekiti state government that his administration incurred N155.79 billion debt before leaving office, The Nation reports.

The former governor’s spokesperson described the claims as falsehood intended to diminish the outstanding achievements of the Fayose administration.

“When a governor goes about advertising signing of 2019 budget as a major programme of his 100 days in office, such a governor should be pitied. On this one, we can only pray for the reconstruction of the lying mind of John Kayode Fayemi,"Olayinka said

“On September 8, 2018, Fayemi said Ekiti’s debt was N117 billion; on October 17, 2018, the same Fayemi claimed the debt was N170 billion. Today, he is talking about N155 billion. So, which one should the public believe?”

Olayinka insisted that Ekit state’s indebtedness was under N60 billion and that the debt was either directly incurred during Fayemi’s first tenure or as a result of the loans restructuring done at the instance of the Federal Government and the Federal Economic Council (FEC).

He accused Governor Fayemi of fabricating figures to perpetrate digital stealing, alleging that the governor did something similar when he claimed he spent N700m for a website as minister of mines and steel development.

Legit.ng had reported that Ekiti state governor, Kayode Fayemi, on Thursday, January 24, said former governor Ayodele Fayose left a total debt profile of over N155.79 billion for the state.

This is as the governor signed into law, the N129.9bn state budget for 2019, as part of events to mark his 100 days in office.

The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that the governor said while giving account of his stewardship in Ado Ekiti, that the debt profile included local loans and other debts.