18th April, 2024
The Ebonyi State Government has denied that it borrowed from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund contrary to a report by the Debt Management Office.
The DMO had reported that the Ebonyi State under the current administration led by Governor Francis Nwifuru, was among the 17 states that had borrowed $125.1 million (N111.24 billion) from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Debunking the report, the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Leonard Uguru, said Nwifuru had not borrowed from either internal or foreign creditors since he assumed office on May 29, 2023.
He said: “Since the inception of this administration, the Ebonyi State Government has not borrowed any money, whether foreign or domestic loans. So, any organisation that’s writing that Ebonyi is among the states that have borrowed money, I don’t know where they are getting their data.
“Among the South East states, Ebonyi is still the least in both domestic and foreign debts. Even though we have a trace of debt, which is the 150 million dollar loan from Africa Development Bank and Islamic Bank inherited from the past administration in the reconstruction of Ring Road, which is what made the loan increase, it is worth it as the road cuts across various local government areas of the state. Outside that, I don’t think there’s any other debt owed by the previous state government.”