Oyo Government House: Makinde defends the approval of N63.4 billion

On Friday, governor Seyi Makinde defended the approval of N63.4 billion from the executive council of the State of Oyo for the revision of the government chamber.

Speaking during the presentation of the speech on the state at the Chamber of the Assembly, Ibadan, the governor said that it was due to the floating exchange rate of Naira to dollars.

He said that the state “is currently struggling with a strong increase in its obligations to reimburse foreign debt, which increased from ₦ 70 billion to over 300 billion, due to the volatility of the exchange rate”.

According to the governor, the debt root was a loan of $ 200 million obtained by the World Bank during the twilight of the administration of the deceased governor Abiola Ajimobi.

He argued that at the time of the loan, the exchange rate was ₦ 350 to a dollar, bringing his naira equivalent to about ₦ 70 billion.

“Today, due to the constant depreciation of the Naira since 2019, we are now assisting the same loan to an evaluation of over 300 billion.

“When we assumed the assignment, our monthly refund was ₦ 700 million. But at the moment we are forced to pay ₦ 3 billion months a month.

“As a sub-national, Oyo’s state has absolutely no influence on decisions on exchange rates. However, we support the consequences in our tax planning,” he said.