N76Bn World Bank Project: Oyo Not Losing Any Fund– Makinde
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has described as unfounded and a total misrepresentation that the state is about a World Bank loan worth $200 million.
Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, made the clarification in reaction to media reports to that effect, saying those peddling the rumour were mischievous and clearly behind the news.
The governor’s media aide said Makinde had, on a recently held state television programme, “The Governor Explains” given a detailed explanation as to the real state of the said World Bank loan.
According to him, the governor had explained that the total loan was $200 million and that before he came into office, the previous administration had already spent $50 million and also committed $100 million to projects.
“So the remaining is $50 million, which the management of the project wants to use to do some works,” he further explained.
He recalled that the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akinola Ojo, who supervises the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP), which is managing the loan, had explained that the management of the project was following due process in awarding the last batch of contracts.
Adisa also stated that the state government and the World Bank were not at loggerheads over the project, adding that due process is strictly being followed.
Quoting Ojo, Makinde’s media aide said it was unfortunate that some media houses misrepresented facts and figures to drag the project into unnecessary controversy.
Adisa stated that, by rehashing the unfounded story, “the promoters have shown themselves as agents of fake news which the whole world has been preaching against.”
