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The debt profile of Delta state government stands at N272 billion, the state commissioner for Finance, Fidelis Tilijie has revealed.
Out of this amount, he said, the sum of N84 billion is due to contractors, while pension arrears is about N27 billion for pension areas while the balance is the debt inherited from the previous administration.
Speaking at a press conference in Asaba on Monday, Tilijie said, “There have been bailouts before we came, there have been series of indebtedness, and then naturally we needed to carry them out.
“The CBN at some point in time through the instrumentality of National Economic Council ( NEC), had to freeze the payment of indebtedness that was granted to past administrations because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
According to him, the expected refunds the state kept bandying across remained at N240 billion with respect to 13% derivation, adding that ” out of this we have received N14.7 billion in three quarterly instalments.
“And also accessed N30 billion from the bridging finance. We had attempted to approach the market to discount a figure of N150 billion which is about half of the expected refund.
“We rejigged that process and reduce it to N100 billion. So we have received N14.7 billion and have also accessed N30 billion from the commercial market.”
Describing the state as the most solvent, the commissioner gave reasons why the state government
could not clean up the debt profile despite being sure that the refunds from FAAC can do so.
He said Gov Okowa saw hell in trying to manage resources when he came on board in 2015, which is why all the state governors had to take the salary bailout of N10 billion.
“The truth is if we are to take the total refunds, we will be putting the successive government into the same trap which Okowa met in 2015.
“So he decided that he will be his brother’s keeper, he will take a percentage of it and leave the other for the incoming government.
“I do know that most of all the oil-producing states went ahead to discount 100% of the expected refund. If we had done that, then we would have been able to clean up our debt profile.
“But what is extremely critical here is the fact that government is a continuum, and therefore it is important for the current administration to think that Delta will not die after it, and therefore must make provision for the survival of the next administration.
“So we are laying a very solid financial foundation for them to come and hit the ground running.”
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