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The Plateau State Government has reacted to the accusation of corruption leveled against it by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung.
On Monday, the minister accused the Plateau State Government of mismanaging over $2 billion loan.
According to the minister, the APC administration in Plateau was not prudent in managing resources.
A day after President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit, the minister accused Governor Lalong of side-lining him from the visit. He said he was not officially informed of the visit by the state government, despite being a minister from the state; and that even when he attended a reception organised for the president, he was not allowed to speak. He also accused the governor of playing to the gallery by renaming a road, formerly named after a former military ruler, after Mr. Buhari.
“Another disaster of the president’s visit was the renaming of Yakubu Gowon way to Muhammadu Buhari way. To say the least, it is embarrassing,” the minister said in an interview he posted on his Facebook page.
“Gowon was the president’s boss, how can he be stripped of a 40-year privilege and honour in his home state? This is the worst thing that can happen to a man like the elder statesman. I believe that General Gowon is feeling betrayed and abandoned by his own people.”
Dalung’s accusation unfounded
However, the Commissioner for Information and Communication in Plateau State, Yakubu Dati, in a statement chose to react only to the allegations of corruption leveled against the state government noting that Dalung’s allegations were false, and unfounded, and only meant to portray the state government in bad light.
The spokesman also said that the Lalong administration has been able to reduce the debt it inherited by it predecessor, Jonah Jang, by over 50 percent.
Dati, in the statement also denied that the state procured a loan of $2 billion. He also explained other financial dealings by the Plateau State Government.
“For the records. Plateau State debt profile is N122 billion from an inherited debt of N220 billion. The records are available at the Debt Management Office for confirmation. The bandied figure of N1 trillion is tales by moonlight.
”On the matter of the loan. It is still being processed and not released. This can easily be confirmed on the bank’s website as attached. The amount secured by the Federal Ministry of Finance is 11 million dollars and not 2 BILLION dollars being bandied. The facility was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of Wednesday, July 26 2017. The loan was secured from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the development of the Irish potato value chain, and the project is expected to create 60,000 jobs.
”Plateau State would be providing N599 million as counterpart funding for the project.The loan has a five years moratorium; thereafter, whatever remained of the loan would be paid at the rate of 1 percent in 20 years. The loan would be used to develop the Irish potatoes value chain in 17 local local government areas of the state.
”The implementation would be jointly executed by FADAMA project and a unit in the state Ministry of Agriculture. About 70 per cent of the loan would be used for the provision of infrastructure, extension services, improved planting and marketing. The whole exercise is aimed at boosting production and minimising wastages in Plateau State which is the largest producer of Irish potatoes. The rescue administration remains focused on delivering on its mandate.”
