Uduaghan left N146b debt, says Okowa

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, on Tuesday, declared that the immediate past administration of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan left a debt of N146.62 billion.
To keep the government running, he appealed to the House of Assembly to approve a N10 billion loan for the state government.
To him, the declining oil prices and consequent low revenue from Federation Account will affect his administration’s plan for the people.
The governor declared that the N10 billion loan would be used for infrastructure, pensions, overhead costs, payment of salaries and the take-off of some projects.
In a letter he addressed to the Speaker, Monday Igbuya, Okowa said: “My administration inherited on May 29. 2015, a huge bank and capital market debts of about N96.62 billion with a scheduled monthly repayment of N4.6 billion.
“The state’s Infrastructure Development Bond of N50 billion, which was obtained by the past administration of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in 2011, was left unpaid on another monthly repayment.
“Constraint from the foregoing and in order to free resources for other development purposes, my administration has resorted to the lead banker, Zenith Bank, which has offered to restructure the state government existing loan facilities by availing the state a term loan of N10 billion”.
Following a motion by the Majority Leader, Tim Owhefere and seconded by Samuel Mariere, Ughelli North I, the lawmakers unanimously approved the loan.