The
governor of Ogun State has fallen out with the State House of Assembly
as the House refuses to grant the governor's request.
Ibikunle Amosun
A report by SaharaReporters hs shown that the relationship between
Mr. Ibikunle Amosun, governor of Ogun State, and the state legislature
has become badly fractured.
The governor and the House have fallen out with each other over the
refusal of the House to approve the governor’s request to borrow a N65
billion loan.
According to SaharaReporters, Legislative sources revealed on
Wednesday that the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Mr.
Suraj Adekunbi, had, on Sunday, sent a text message inviting the
legislators to a meeting with the governor at 2 PM on Monday.
The text message urged the lawmakers to be punctual in their
arrival for the meeting because the issues for discussion were very
crucial. It, however, failed to give a specific agenda for the meeting.
But as the legislators found out the meeting, which lasted from 2PM
to 6PM at the governor’s office in Abeokuta, there was only one agenda:
A fresh request for a N65 billion loan, for which he needs the approval
of the House.
With the knowledge that Mr. Amosun recently accessed a bailout of
about N20 billion from the federal government, the request for an
approval to borrow again came to the legislators as a shock, which was
clearly conveyed to the governor.
Sources at the meeting said Mr. Amosun invented a variety of
pretexts in a bid to persuade the legislators to approve his request.
While speaking, the governor unknowingly gave the game away. Multiple
sources at the meeting reveaed that Mr. Amosun said if he gets the loan
and completes the projects he started, which are at various stages of
abandonment, “all the people running around that they want to be governor will run away."
It immediately became clear to the lawmakers that the loan for
which approval was being sought would be used as a war chest for the
2019 general elections.
According to SaharaReporters, opposition members in the House were
said to have immediately registered their disapproval of the use for
which the loan is to be put as well as Mr. Amosun’s treatment of members
of the House.
A legislator was said to have gotten up and, in no roundabout way,
told the governor that he has been selfish. The lawmaker, said a source,
told Mr. Amosun that he has been taking care of his own interests,
while neglecting the welfare of the House members.
Also in attendance at the meeting was Mr. Tolu Odebiyi, Chief of
Staff to the governor, who is being widely touted as Mr. Amosun’s
anointed successor. He was said to have kept quiet, as the legislators
rounded on his boss. Even when asked if he had anything to say, said
sources, Mr. Odebiyi shook his head to indicate that he did not want to
speak.
Angered by Monday’s events, the lawmakers, on Tuesday, shunned the
House session despite being persuaded by the Speaker to sit. Later on
Tuesday, sources disclosed to SaharaReporters, the Speaker informed his
colleagues that Mr. Amosun had sent N1 million to each member. This was,
however, rejected, as the legislators told the Speaker that they wanted
N5 million each.
“Before he was given the bailout, he promised us N10 million
naira each. We believed him because it was during Ramadan and he was
fasting, but he did not keep to his word. He brought one million naira
for each of us. We can never trust him again,” one of the lawmakers confided in SaharaReporters.
The lawmaker also disclosed that Mr. Amosun was behind the campaign
against the N100 billion bond that his predecessor, Mr. Gbenga Daniel,
attempted, without success, to obtain. The legislator said the governor
is looking worse than his predecessor in his debt wish for the state.
He equally disclosed that Mr. Amosun presented the loan he is
seeking as counterpart funding for a project, saying it implies that he
may obtain as much as N650 billion in loans.
Under the current Speaker, the House has approved for Mr. Amosun a
variety of loans. These included N25 billion from First Bank, N15
billion from Guaranty Trust Bank, another N7.5 billion from Guaranty
Trust Bank, N40 billion from Prada Marcedo, a Brazilian financial
institution, N2 billion from the Bank of Agriculture, N1 billion naira
from Federal Mortgage Bank, N20 billion in bailout funds and N50 billion
from the capital market.
It cannot however be confirmed as at the time of filing this
report, if the N50 billion from the capital market has been accessed.
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