Debt management: Oborevwori has saved over N205billion – Delta PDP tells APC

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State has stated that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori has saved over two hundred and five billion naira (N205 billion) through financial efficiency and has also reduced the state’s debt profile by one hundred and eighty billion naira (N180 billion).

Delta State PDP Secretary, Engr. Dan Ossai, disclosed this in a statement in response to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“It is these achievements in the financial management of the state that the APC is quarreling with.”

The PDP said, “They (APC) want the state to be run the way APC has mismanaged the national economy since 2015, which through their reckless borrowings, led Nigeria into servicing its debts with over 97% of its national revenue, borrowing even more in an attempt to sustain the economy on borrowed lifelines, while actually crashing it. God forbid that this happens in Delta.”

The PDP noted that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration is determined to manage Delta into a debt-free state.

According to the PDP, “Thankfully, from the relative increase in oil production output, especially in Delta as a result of Oborevwori’s efficient management of relations with oil-producing communities, there is increased allocation to the state. He is focused on managing the state economy within its means, including intensified IGR, to administer the state in such a manner that debts would not be left for future generations and administrations to inherit, as the APC does and would want to see in Delta State.”

The PDP described the APC’s recent release as a “shameless act of its characteristic duplicity.” It emphasized that it is “misguided propaganda” to misinform the public about the debt management measures being undertaken by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration.

“In the release signed by its Publicity Secretary, Valentine Onojeguo, the APC merely attempted to misinform the public by downplaying the significance of Governor Oborevwori’s responsible actions in reducing the debt profile of the state to ensure greater financial stability and sounder economic health.

“It is indeed strange that the APC in Delta State would pretend not to know the origin and the truth about the debt profile of the nation and the states. Let us remind them that through the mismanagement of the national economy by the APC-led federal government, from 2015 when it took over with President Muhammadu Buhari, it has overseen heavy and reckless borrowing, escalating the national debt stock from about N7 trillion after 16 years of PDP governance to over N90 trillion under its eight years, leading to a situation where 97% of Nigeria’s national revenue was devoted to debt servicing and the consequent reduced revenue allocations to states and local governments.

“While it failed woefully in managing the crude oil production capacity of the nation, which it brought from over two million barrels per day to a low of about one million BPD, a significant portion of the revenue receipts from even the low output had been devoted to corrupt importation of petroleum products and payment of fuel subsidies, with little or nothing returned to the federation account.

“The situation was further worsened by its poor fiscal and monetary policies, which steadily devalued the naira and caused inflationary difficulties across all sectors and segments of the nation.

“The former Minister of Finance under Buhari, Zainab Ahmed, openly admitted in 2021 that revenues were low and so were federal allocations to the states and local governments.

‘The crash in crude oil prices really hit us very hard in terms of revenue. We have very low revenues and very high expenditures. What we have done so far is just to provide some stability to make sure salaries are paid, pensions are received every month; that we send funds to the judiciary and the legislature; that we meet our debt service obligations. That’s what we are doing. It also means we have had to borrow more than we planned. It is a very difficult time. I cannot explain to you how difficult it is, not just for the federal government but also for the states. We see increasing reductions in our FAAC revenues. So, FAAC reduces, and whenever FAAC reduces, it is a very difficult situation.’

“It is important to note that these were the words of the former Minister of Finance of the APC government on the national economy.

“Not only did the federal government try to sustain the economy purely on loans and more loans, which were not applied to productive sectors nor effectively and equitably to infrastructural development, but it also resorted to printing money, which is the worst style of economic management.

“During a Senate Committee hearing in March 2024, the current Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, painted a grim picture of how the APC mismanaged the national economy from 2015 to 2023.

‘‘It came from eight years of just printing money not matched by productivity. It’s not like when you earn dollars, and you free the naira alongside it. We are going to audit even the N22.7 trillion printed aimlessly. The consequence of the eight years of printing money without productivity is high inflation confronting the country now.”