Delta PDP rubbishes APC claims on N12 Billion loan requested by Okowa administration
By Nnamdi Okosieme
The Delta State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), has controverted claims by the All Progressives Congress(APC) in the state that the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration in connivance with the Delta State House of Assemby was plotting to obtain a N12 billion loan in a manner that was both opaque and questionable.
Governor Okowa recently sought the approval of the Delta State House of Assembly for approval to obtain a loan of N12 billion naira to enable it complete some ongoing projects initiated by his government.
The APC had in response to that request, accused the government and the state chapter of the PDP of trying to yoke the people of Delta State to debt. The party in a statement titled, “Yet another N12 billion on the neck of Deltans thanks to Okowa and Delta PDP” and signed by its Publicity Secretary, Dr. Omene Edafe, noted:
“Once again the cash and carry Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led administration of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has connived with the Delta State House of Assembly to obtain a humongous loan of 12 billion naira in a most opaque manner and for highly questionable purposes of absolutely no relevance whatsoever to the good people of Delta State.”
Reacting on Sunday to the APC’s accusation, the Delta PDP through its Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, dismissed the APC’s allegation as a cheap rant.
Dr. Osuoza accused the APC of using uncouth language to spread disingenuous information, noting that the aim is to sell a dummy to Deltans by attempting to paint the actions of the Government of Governor Okowa, the PDP and the Delta State House of Assembly, which approved the governor’s loan request, after a careful consideration, in bad light.
“Unfortunately for the new APC Executive that came into place via a largely disputed Congress that only got the approval of the court, it is not a surprise that the new helmsman would want to show presence, that they are now in charge and prove to the remaining but discomfited party faithful, by creating false hopes and reaching out to their bag of evil plots, to assail the person of Governor Okowa and the ever soaring profile of the PDP”, Dr. Osuoza said.
The Delta State PDP spokesman said the APC’ s claims failed on many scores. He stated that the party did not base its claims on any analysis of facts but rather displayed grammar and highfalutin language that signifies nothing.
“In the foregoing, it’s clear that the APC failed in subsequent paragraphs to prove that the loan request was obtained in “a most opaque manner. Of course, the foolish APC new EXCO wants to obfuscate issues and confuse the unwary that writing to get approval of the House of Assembly is not a fulfillment of the constitutional demand to get the approval of the House”, Dr Osuoza said.
He said it was curious that the APC would want to hide the fact that Governor Okowa actually wrote as required to the House. He said this showed that there was nothing mysterious about the loan as the giovernor in his letter to the Assembly also clearly stated what the loan request was meant for. Dr Osuoza said Governor Okowa also told the lawmakers the source for the recovery of the loan facility, meaning that the loan would be repaid before the administration ends.
Setting the record straight, Dr. Osuoza said Governor Okowa in his letter to the House, said the loan bei g sought would be repaid in six equal instalments of N3.03 billion.
The governor’s letter reproduced in the statement by the Delta PDP spokesman, read in part:
“The House may further note that in a bid to defray arrears of unpaid certificates earned by contractors with respect to completion of some critical ongoing legacy projects awarded by this administration.
“This will also help the State take advantage of the subsisting dry season to galvanise contractors toward completing and achieving significant milestones in the ongoing projects.
“This became necessary to secure bulk funds at minimal costs, pending complete receipts of the Federal Government Nigeria (FGN) bridging finance credits in May 2022.”
Dr. Osuoza said the APC’s accusations made no sense but represented a futile attempt by the APC to attack and denigrate the good works of the PDP administration. He said unfortunately for them, the people of Delta State better and cannot be persuaded to think along the biases of the opposition against the person and government of Governor Okowa and the PDP.