N18.38bn Loan: Panel Indicts Oyinola

L-R: Akwa-Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Funmi Olayinka and Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State, at the National Economic Council Meeting in Abuja, yesterday.

Former Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has been found guilty of leadership failure, the commission of inquiry set up by the state government to investigate a loan of N18.38 billion by his administration, said in its report.

The commission, which was chaired by Prof. Femi Odekunle, was set up by Governor Rauf Aregbesola in September, and mandated to investigate the circumstances surrounding the procurement of the loan from United Bank of Africa Plc.

The government also mandated the panel to investigate the conduct of Oyinlola, among other issues.

The commission, which submitted its report to Aregbesola in Osogbo last Wednesday, blamed the former governor for heeding the advice of the state House of Assembly at a “non-emergency circumstance’’.

The panel recommended sanctions for the former governor for heeding the advice of the defunct State House of Assembly to take the loan at a “non-emergency circumstance”.

The panel also recommended that Oyinlola be sanctioned for “irrational application of parts of such loan and for directing certain obvious reckless disbursement of the loan”.

It blamed the former governor for approving an “unthinking Memorandum of Understanding that had turned out to be a fraud against the state”.

It also recommended sanctions for the former Head of Service, Mr Segun Akinwusi and former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Abiodun Akintaro.

The report blamed the two for failing to advise the former governor during deliberative meetings on the loan which they attended.

It indicted Akinwusi for denying his participation in the deliberations in the memorandum to Aregbesola as well as his oral submission under oath at the commission.

The report said that Mr Adejare Bello, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly at the time, ought to have convoked a public hearing on the matter as a matter of public interest following the resentment of the opposition members in the House on the matter.

In his remarks, Aregbesola expressed the government’s appreciation to members of the commission for their zeal, passion and commitment to duty.

The governor promised that as soon as the report was reviewed and approved by the Government in Council, a white paper would be issued.