SOJI AJIBOLA, Ibadan
The Oyo State Government has dismissed the claim that it lost a $200 million World Bank loan, describing the report as unfounded and misrepresentation.
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, Mr Taiwo Adisa, in a statement made available to newsmen said the governor had explained in detail the real state of the World Bank loan.
According to him, the governor had explained that the total loan was $200 million and that before he came into office the previous administration had already spent $50 million and also committed $100 million to projects. So the remaining is $50 million, which the management of the project wants to use to do some work.
Recall that the Commissioner for Finance in the State, Mr. Akinola Ojo, who supervises the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP), which is managing the loan, stated in a release on February 15, that the management of the project was following due process in awarding the last batch of contracts.
He also stated that the state government and the World Bank were not at loggerheads over the project, adding that due process is strictly being followed.
Ojo had also stated that it was unfortunate that some media houses misrepresented facts and figures to drag the project into unnecessary controversy.
A coordinator of the project, Dayo Ayorinde, had equally said that the claims that the state would lose the said funds were unfounded, adding that the report was false in its entirety.
“It negates the reality of the situation in the bidding process as well as the process of engaging contractors for the second pool of works at the IUFMP.
“To the best of our knowledge, there was NO QUERY to the State Government from the World Bank. The Bidding Process is on course; the two parties involved (the Oyo State Government and the World Bank) are positively engaging the Bid Evaluation Report (BER) through the PIU, and the process is within schedule,” the coordinator had said in the statement made public in February.