Plateau government replies Buhari’s minister over corruption allegations
- The war of words between the Plateau state governor and the minister of youth and sports development is still ongoing
- The minister, Solomon Dalung, had accused Governor Simon Lalong of aiding corruption
- In response, the Plateau state government said Dalung’s allegations were false, and unfounded
The Plateau state government has officially responded to the allegations of corruption levelled against Governor Simon Lalong, by the minister of youth and sports development, Solomon Dalung.
The minister had accused the government of mismanaging over $2 billion loan on Monday, March 12. According to the minister, the Lalong-led government was not prudent in managing resources.
President Buhari was in Plateau state last Thursday, March 8, as part of his visit to violence-ravaged states. The state has suffered series of ethnic-related violence, mainly between nomadic herdsmen and farming communities. Over a dozen people were killed in the state even on the day the president visited.
A day after the president’s visit, the minister accused Governor Lalong of side-lining him from the visit. He said he was not officially informed of the visit by the state government, despite being a minister from the state; and that even when he attended a reception organised for the president, he was not allowed to speak.
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He also accused the governor of playing to the gallery by renaming a road, formerly named after a former military ruler, after the president. The minister further accused the Plateau state government of lying about the security situation in the state; and “deceiving President Buhari.”
In reaction, the commissioner for information and communication in Plateau state, Yakubu Dati, in a statement sent to journalists, said Dalung’s allegations were false, and unfounded, and only meant to portray the state government in bad light.
He also said that the Lalong administration has been able to reduce the debt it inherited by it predecessor, Jonah Jang, by over 50 per cent. He denied that the state procured a loan of $2 billion, while giving a break down of the financial dealings by the government.
Part of the statement read: “For the records. Plateau state debt profile is N122 billion from an inherited debt of N220 billion. The records are available at the Debt Management Office for confirmation. The bandied figure of N1 trillion is tales by moonlight.
“On the matter of the loan. It is still being processed and not released. This can easily be confirmed on the bank’s website as attached. The amount secured by the federal ministry of finance is 11 million dollars and not 2 billion dollars being bandied.
“The facility was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of Wednesday, July 26 2017. The loan was secured from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the development of the Irish potato value chain, and the project is expected to create 60,000 jobs.
”Plateau state would be providing N599 million as counterpart funding for the project.The loan has a five years moratorium; thereafter, whatever remained of the loan would be paid at the rate of 1 per cent in 20 years. The loan would be used to develop the Irish potatoes value chain in 17 local local government areas of the state."
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In an earlier report by Legit.ng, Dalung was said to have taken to his Facebook page on Sunday, March 11, to blast Lalong for naming a recently commissioned street after President Muhammadu Buhari. He said that particular street was already named after a former head of state, General Yakubu Gowon.
However, Lalong through Yakubu Dati, his commissioner of information and communication, said if Dalung had to checked properly, he would have discovered that the Yakubu Gowon Way still exists and that there was no remaining of any road.
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Source: Legit.ng
