The political climate of Osun State appears to be on the upbeat at present due to a range of issues, chief of which is the ongoing probe of contracts and major financial transactions of the former Olagunsoye Oyinlola administration. Before the current probe, there had been three others, one of which was named 'Contract Review Committee.'' Although it submitted a report to government, the Rauf Aregbesola government, three months ago, set up the current one headed by a professor of criminology, Professor Femi Odekunle.The panel has invited about 70 people, including Oyinlola, to appear before it. It is, however, not clear if Oyinlola would honour the invitation, although he has been quoted in the media as saying that there should be no problem about the invitation if fairness and openness were the watchwords of the panel and justice its goal. The inaugural sitting of the public hearing of the panel began last week Monday with Odekunle telling those invited to appear before the commission should not entertain fear because the commission was not out to witch-hunt anybody but to seek clarifications on specific contracts awarded and the management of the N18.3 billion bank credit.The sittings have not been without high drama and verbal attacks. Indeed, a former Head of Service in the state, Mr Segun Akinwusi, told the panel last week that it was doing a hatchet job while the panel announced that it would get him arrested and charged to court for impugning its integrity.So far, several key government officials, including Akinwusi, have appeared before the panel. Others include the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Olubukola Opakunle; Executive Secretary, Board of Technical Education, Mr.Olakunle Tony Oyebamiji, Permanent secretary, ministry of finance, Mr Abiodun Akintaro, and former Director of Due Process, Mr. Gbenga Abiola who is currently a Senior Special Assistant to Aregbesola.Opakunle, Oyebanji and Abiola, on the first day, testified on the role they played in the execution of N4.1 billion contracts for the upgrade of nine technical colleges and procurement of some science equipment for public primary, secondary schools and the two colleges of education in the state. The commission had raised queries on the propriety of allowing a contractor, Skill G, not to go through the tender stage and why about 70 per cent mobilisation fee was paid to the contractor before the commencement of the projects. Opakunle explained the idea behind the introduction of science labless kits to primary and secondary schools as well as the challenges of getting teachers already trained by the company to use the kits in teaching the students.Oyebamiji was unable to provide a necessary explanation for the action of his board but Abiola told the commission that the firm was introduced by the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria and that it got the contract following a presentation and proposal approved by the state executive council. He said about 70 per cent fee was paid to the contractor because of a 10-month deadline given to the contractor and the urgent need to ensure that youths in the state receive technical skills in order to equip them and draw them out of the streets. He added that the contract was due process compliant saying the procurement method used was 'single source/ negotiated tendering method due to the near monopoly of the products by the Israeli company.'Abiola, who is now a Senior Special Assistant to Governor Rauf Aregbesola on project monitoring, said a proposal for the projects was submitted to Oyinlola by Professor Olu Aina through the Board of Technical Education where he was chairman. He, however, noted that the contract sum was less than N4.1 billion because, according to him, a deduction of about N700 million was made as tax and stamp duty. When asked for his opinion on the state of the contracts, he told the commission that he was unhappy that the projects were abandoned so soon after Oyinlola left office. He said that if a memo he wrote to Governor Aregbesola on the situation were acted upon, the contractors would be back to site to finish the job to enhance technical education in the state.Mr Abiola added that part of the project was over 90 per cent completed, but the construction of buildings that would house the equipment was 38 per cent completed, but work could not continue on the site because the present regime stopped it because it was apparently not convinced about the project. He explained that in April 2011, he wrote a letter to the incumbent governor to release more money for the project, but he declined, adding that the inability to complete the buildings made the various equipment procured for the nine technical colleges to lay fallow, just as he warned that failure to complete the buildings would make the parts already constructed to deteriorate.When the panel said it noticed some defects on some of the buildings, Mr Abiola said those defects had been noticed earlier by the bureau, and the matter was reported to the contractors, but they requested for more funds out of the balance with the government to carry out the repairs, which had not been released.Real drama and high wired politics erupted the following day, as the panel shifted its focus on the loan of N 18.3billion taken by the Oyinlola administration and how N10 billion out of it was spent with the current government inheriting the balance. Explaining his role in the N 18.38 billion loan, Akintaro accused the state House of Assembly and Abiola as the initiators of the loan and the particular amount to obtain from bank.The permanent secretary further disclosed that a memo from the office of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) dated January 08, 2010 sent to the former governor, advised him to source for loan from financial institutions and constitute a committee that would process and secure the loan. Akintaro explained that based on the memo, Oyinlola set up the committee, comprising the Commissioner for Finance, Farounbi, the Accountant-General of the state, himself, among others.Reiterating that the conception of the loan, the choice of bank, the loan terms, the projects to finance with loan and the contractors to use for the projects were all Abiola's ideas, Akintaro said that he did not know when the state government agreed on the N18.3bn loan and its terms. Akintaro added that the then Commissioner for Finance got the interest on the loan reduced to 13 per cent, after much negotiation with officials of the UBA. When asked what informed the choice of UBA on the loan, Akintaro said that he did not know how the bank got the deal, saying; 'UBA met with officials at the top.'Abiola, however, affirmed that it was the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance to process the loan and know its terms. He said: 'The ministry of finance to the best of my knowledge applied for the loan on behalf of the state government. Disbursement of the loan was done by the Ministry of Finance in conjunction with the office of the Acountantant General of the state as approved by the governor based on projects already approved by the Osun state House of Assembly.' He disclosed that N 10.75 billion of the loan was spent as at November 26, 2010 when Oyinlola left office, out of which the government had paid back to the bank a sum of N 1.79billion. Net indebtedness of the state to UBA the creditor bank, he said was N 8.964b illion. He added that the Aregbesola government inherited a balance at bank of N 9.4 billion. On the choice of UBA for the loan, Abiola explained that it was the only bank that could lend the amount required as others could not. The loan, he said, was spent on ongoing roads, the nine technical colleges, science kits for primary and secondary schools in the state, rural electrification, UNIOSUN, counterpart funding to multinational donor agencies while only N2.6 billion of the amount was spent on stadia debunking claims that the loan was principally for that purpose.Also, former chairman, Committee on Appropriation, Osun State House of Assembly, Mr Femi Farounbi, the second day told the panel that the N18.3 billion credit facility obtained by the last government was initiated and approved by the House of Assembly. Farounbi said it was the former speaker of the Assembly who encouraged former Governor Oyinlola to approach banks for loans to execute capital projects when the latter came to present the state's 2010 budget in order to enhance the development of the state.Testifying before the commission, he said he could not recall the number of times the House sat to debate the loan issue before it was finally passed by all the 26 members made up of PDP and ACN lawmakers. Consequently, Chairman of the commission, Professor Odekunle ordered that the Clerk of the assembly should be summoned to furnish the commission with the proceedings of the House pertaining to the debate on the loan.The drama continues...
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