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The Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel, yesterday declared that
he was not desperate for the acquisition of the controversial N100 billion bond
which he claimed was the only option left to any government to bail the state
out of bankruptcy.

Speaking at the formal presentation of the Master Plan and flag
off of the Abeokuta Central Business District (ACBD), Mr Daniel said that the
decision of his administration to access the bond market was based on sound
financial and fiscal projections, and as such, it would not show any
desperation to access it.

“The government would adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude,
especially because of the needless controversy the bond matter had generated,
due mainly to the way the former leadership of the House treated what was
essentially a fiscal measure,” he stated.

The governor was embroiled in a controversy with the former
leadership of the State House of Assembly, which insisted that the executive
should convince the public on the need for the bond, before it could be
approved by the legislature. But the bond story took a twist, last Monday, days
to a public hearing on the matter, when the former Speaker of the House, Tunji
Egbtokun, was impeached and a new Speaker, Soyemi Coker, emerged through the
actions of a group of nine lawmakers. In a quick session, the Coker-led
Assembly hurriedly approved the controversial bond, which had earlier been
subject to public debate on Wednesday.

High interest rate

Daniel said the inability to access the Bond Market at the appropriate
time was costing the government about N400 million monthly, being the cost of
the high interest rate it was paying on the facility used to finance existing
infrastructure such as the multi-billion naira New Secretariat building and
other major developmental projects in the State. He said, based on sound
financial projections, he was sure that if his administration did not take the
bond, the succeeding one would do so because that was the only way to maintain
the pace of development and finance projects and growing expenditure in the
state.

According to the governor, the people of the state should brace up for the
consequences if the bond was not eventually accessed in the life of his
administration, as there was no desperation to access the bond market at all
costs. He said it was wrong for people to insinuate that the bond was being
intentionally sought at the twilight of his administration, noting that the
process actually begun in 2007 while all relevant documentation and
notification had been concluded by 2008.