Ogun debts under control – Finance Commissioner

By Adejoke Adeleye/Ogun

Ogun government has said the rise in the debt profile of the state should not be cause for alarm.

Ogun Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun stated this while speaking at a media parley and breaking down of the 2024 budget held at the Olusegun Osoba International Press Center in Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, the state capital.

He explained that the entire Ogun State team has been very careful about the type of debts incurred and most particularly, the kind of things such debts are used for.

He disclosed that some of the external loans incurred by the state are long-term loans used as working capital with largely 80 to 90 per cent of such deployed to fund capital expenditures that have the potentialities of increasing the state’s revenue base.

“Those of you who are always concerned about the debt position of Ogun State, there is no cause for alarm. You should all go and sleep because not only are we careful with the type of debt we take, but we are also judiciously utilizing the debts for capital infrastructure that will increase our revenue and improve the economy base and we can pay back”.

“As practicable as possible, we look for long-term loans and we are even far below the limit of all the sustainability ratio of debts for any state as set by the Federal Debts Management Office (DMO). In some cases, because we are opening the economy of the state to private sector investors, as we crystalize these investments, we hand them over to Private investors for concessions”.

Before this, Okubadejo had disclosed that the year 2023 budget of N703 Billion will be largely funded through the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) which is projected at N240 Billion, with the expected Federal Allocations at N182 Billion

The commissioner, however, ruled out the possibility of over-taxation of residents, stressing that a financial re-engineering policy would be adopted to meet up with the targeted revenue.

He further disclosed that the state is creating a conducive environment that will attract the private sector to invest in the state and do business with ease through the creation of economic development clusters and reduction of the cost of doing business.

Mr Okubadejo who noted that the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration is not only strategizing to achieve greater heights in the economy but also ensuring the strategies are executed to the letters pointed out that the key economic objectives of the government are real sector growth, job creation, food security, poverty eradication and increased investment.

Flanked by the state Commissioner for Budget and Planning, as well as the Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Kayode Akinmade, the Finance Commissioner explained that the Abiodun-led administration has come realisation that the state debts must be channelled towards funding capital expenditures that would increase the revenue capacity and economic base of the state.