Press Statement

Rt. Honorable Razaq Atunwa

THE N35bn SHAM DOCUMENT: NONSENSE UPON STILTS

In an apparent knee-jerk reaction to the statement I issued on 1 February 2021 and the general public outcry about the illegality Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak is about to perpetrate on the treasury of Kwara State, the State Government hurriedly released a document purporting to provide a breakdown of the purpose of the loan.The Theocument is titled “Kwara Government N35bn bond” and was circulated under the heading “35bn Bond explained”.

Let me say quite categorically, that the document is nothing but a sham. It reads more like a poorly written kindergarten pamphlet. For a document designed to satisfy strict requirements of various legislation, it fails abysmally. Quite apart from the grammatical and typographical blunders it contains, the document is riddled with incongruity and befuddlement.

First. Clearly, whoever concocted that document is incapable of simple arithmetic. In summary, the document gives a breakdown as follows: “Infrastructure 13bn”; “Industrial park and Textile Production N5bn”; “Agriculture 7bn”; “A cumulative sum of 15bn will be spent on Education, Health, Entertainment and creative sectors”. By my reckoning this gives a total of N40bn. So which are we to believe: does the Governor want to borrow N35bn or is it N40bn? The error is more than merely arithmetical. It is an insight into the insincerity with which the government is preparing to plunge Kwara State into debt in anunjustifiable,unsustainabe unaccountablemanner.



Second. For a document purporting to provide a breakdown, it actually raises more questions than it answers. For example, it fails to list the so called “37 road projects across the three senatorial district”. One would have expected to see each road listed together with a cost estimate for its construction.The Ministry of Works should have prepared a Bill of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation (BEME). The same goes for all the so called projects listed in the document. Figures seem to have simply been plucked out of the thin air to arrive at a predetermined amount. The document hardly fulfils the “cost-benefit analysis” required by federal legislation.



Third. It is an indispensable requirement that any such loan must be provided for in the Appropriation Law, i.e. the Budget. Sections 120 and 121 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is abundantly clear that no moneys shall be received or spent by the state government without an appropriation law.



Section 44 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 also makes the same requirement. So does Sections 223and 224of the Investment and Securities Act 2007. This proposed loan is nowhere to be found in the 2021 Budget submitted by the Governor and passed by the House. This is evidence of further illegality by this government on a grand scale.I dare say that the approved 2021 Appropriation Law is a public document. Any attempt to doctor its contents to insert a provision for this loan will be most glaring indeed.

Finally, there is raft of compliance issues which bedevils this application. There has been no rating assessment by a registered rafting agency whose report will be required under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kwarans will recall that when the Bukola Saraki Administration wanted to raise the N17bn bond, it commissioned a renowned international credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings. The state’s financial and economic outlook was rated “B+/AA-” This

was the first time any state in Nigeria was rated above that of the national rating.

It is therefore manifestly obvious that this proposed N35bn loan is a non-starter. Perhaps, this accounts for why the Governor has employed subterfuge in order to surreptitiousness sneak this untenable loan past the kwara public.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak must come clean. The people of Kwara deserve and demand full disclosure of all matters relating to this proposed loan application including, but not limited to all documents, approvals and steps taken.

The public also want a full and proper public hearing which must include all critical stakeholders and the general public. Once again, the EFCC and the DMO are put on notice about this illegality of monumental proportions that is about to be perpetrated on the treasury of Kwara State.



Rt. Hon. Razak Atunwa

PDP Gubernatorial Candidate Kwara State (2019)

2February 2021