A’Ibom APC tackles Emmanuel over N239.2bn debt

Patrick Odey, Uyo

The All Progressives Congress, Akwa Ibom State chapter, has carpeted Governor Udom Emmanuel, for allegedly pilling up debts on the state.

The Debt Management Office, last Thursday, revealed that Akwa Ibom State owed banks N239.2bn, the third highest among the 36 states in the country.

The state APC, in a statement on Sunday by its Publicity Secretary, Nkereuwem Enyongekere, called on Emmanuel to explain how the loans obtained were spent, alleging that the PDP incurred over 80 per cent of Akwa Ibom’s debt.

Enyongekere said, “Akwa Ibom people deserve explanations on what Governor Udom Emmanuel has done with all the resources his administration has earned.

 “As a political platform that espouses probity, accountability and transparency, the APC hereby calls on Mr Emmanuel to address the state immediately and give a full account of how he has spent our money.

“We hereby urge the elders and the people of the state to demand explanations from Governor Udom Emmanuel on what he did to the N1.6trn that has accrued to the state under his watch.

“There is just nothing to show for all that we have earned or borrowed. Governor Udom Emmanuel has not completed a 10-kilometre stretch of dual carriageway anywhere in our state.”

But the PDP said the governor had justified the debt with his infrastructural projects, including the 1,700 kilometres of roads constructed in the last five years.

The PDP spokeman in the state, Borono Bassey, said although he doubted the DMO figure, Emmanuel had accounted for every kobo accruing to the state.

He said, “I like to think that even if we are not convinced that that is the true position of the debt standing of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Emmanuel has given account of every kobo accruing to the state in terms of putting infrastructures in place.

“You can see roads scattered over the place, over 1700 kilometres of roads. But what I would like APC to do is to praise development that is happening in the state and place it side by side with the performance of the APC-led government at the centre.” Copyright PUNCH.
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