Osun Debt: SaharaReporters Lifeless Propaganda, by Sarafa Ibrahim

For quite sometime now, the public has become worried by the increasing practice of a section of the media to use their platforms to peddle outright falsehood. This exactly was the case with online media platform, SaharaReporters in its most recent publication on Osun debt profile, deliberately creating a false impression that Governor Ademola Adeleke was responsible for the debt binge.

By mere looking at the report, it is not so hard to know where it came from, because the content and the narrative bear semblance to a similar misinformation campaign orchestrated by elements in the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state in recent past. The latest effort was a calculated attempt to play down the incredible achievements of Governor Adeleke in two years, most especially at a day when labour in the state organised a march in appreciation of the Governor’s approval of a N75,000 minimum wage.

According to SaharaReporters, Osun debt has surged to N336 billion due to heavy reliance on loans. The newspaper itemized the credit to include include a salary bailout of N21.6 billion, restructured commercial bank loans of N73.9 billion, and a Federal Government intervention fund worth N18.4 billion. In addition, it noted that on the international front, the state’s external debt stands at N78.5 billion, stating its heavy reliance on borrowed funds.

But that was not all. SaharaReporters indicated that further examination of the state’s financial book revealed that Osun undisclosed loan totalling N114 billion, has a budget support facility of N17.2 billion, an Excess Crude Account (ECA) facility of N9 billion, and infrastructure loans amounting to N4.3 billion, pushing DMO-managed domestic loans to N144.6 billion.

In essence, SaharaReporters wants the public to believe that Governor Adeleke accumulated the above highlighted debt. This is the height of bad journalism, because the impression conveyed by SaharaReporters is totally misleading. A look at the financial book of the state in the preceding years could have helped the medium avoid the pitfall of a hatchet job, which the report clearly portrayed.

It is important to note that no part of the mentioned credit highlighted by the paper as what added up to whatever figures quoted was accessed by Governor Adeleke. They are all facilities taken by his predecessors, including Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, whose supporters may have been responsible for sponsoring the latest propaganda on SaharaReporters.

In 2021, for instance, budget support credit stood at N17.427 billion and by 2022, it was N17.294. External liabilities was N19.523 billion, and by 2022, it stood at N22.172 billion. Excess Crude Account (ACA) Facility was N7.295 billion in 2021, and by 2022 it has grown to N9.060 billion. Infrastructure loans was N3.988 billion in 2021 and by 2022, it amounted to N4.298 billion.Contract Finance and Finance lease were N3.741 billion; N1.089 billion in 2021 respectively but paid off by 2022. However, in 2022, a fresh credit, Bridge Finance, which amounted to N15.035 was added to Osun debt binge as there was no such debt before.

On the undisclosed section of the Osun’s borrowing in its financial book, salary bailout: N22.828 billion; Restructured Commercial Bank Loan: N77.784 billion; Federal Government Intervention Fund: N2.8 billion; and external debt: N41.290 billion amounted to N144.703 billion in 2021. In 2022, the same credit portfolio, salary bailout: N22.058 billion; Restructured Commercial Bank Loan: N75.459 billion; Federal Government Intervention Fund: N19.643 billion; and external debt: N41.167 billion added up to N158.328 billion.

Clearly, the debt which SaharaReporters tried to present as if Governor Adeleke incurred it, were inherited and has even been reduced. What the records clearly showed us was that, contrary to the impression sold to Osun people for a long time, Oyetola actually borrowed funds as can be seen in the over N17 billion increase in federal government intervention fund for 2022 compared to 2021. The same thing can be noticed with the Bridge finance, which though was not in the books in 2021, climbed to N15.035 billion in 2022.

The only thing that could seem out of ordinary in the state’s debt binge in 2023 compared to the previous years, was the external debt figure climbing to N75 billion from the N41 billion it was in 2022. The reason for this is simple– and that is because of the significant change in the exchange rate. In 2022, a dollar exchange for N460 to naira and by 2023, it averaged at N1400, impacting conversion of dollar rated debt to naira. However, in dollar term, Osun external debt stood at $91.779 million as at 2022 when Governor Adeleke assumed office, and as at June 2024, the Debt Management Office (DMO), puts the external debt of Osun at $78.166 million, indicating more than $13 million reduction.

From the figures above, it is clear to even a toddler that Osun external debt dropped as against the erroneous impression that SaharaReporters may have been commissioned to project. It is too cheap for anyone to make the conversation of a dollar rated debt in naira appears as if fresh borrowings were explored, especially when Governor Adeleke is not responsible for the devaluation of naira.

Opposition is not bad, what is bad is making falsehood and deliberate twisting of datas the only basis to oppose a government. It only shows that those who are in charge of Osun APC are bereft of how to critically engaged the government, reminiscing its inadequacies while in government. Will SaharaReporters take a step away from its lifeless propaganda against Governor Adeleke in the interest of those who relies on it as a source of information? Peddling falsehood and propaganda cannot be the way to do journalism.

• Sarafa Ibrahim is a Special Assistant to the Osun State Governor on Print Media and writes from Osogbo