The Delta State Government declared on Monday that the state is the most financially solvent in Nigeria, with about N272billion debt profile.
The government, however, stated that it would pay off the entire debt with expected federal government refunds, explaining that the move was made to lay a solid financial foundation for the next administration.
Fidelis Tilije, the state Commissioner for Finance, told journalists in Asaba that the state had received N14.7 billion in three quarterly instalments from the N240 billion expected refunds, and that another N30 billion had been accessed from the commercial market through bridging finance.
Tilije broke down the N272 billion debt profile, saying that N84 billion was for contractors, N27 billion was for pension arrears, and the rest was inherited debt from previous administrations.
He said, “Delta is the most solvent state in Nigeria which is why if we were to take a discounting of all the expected refunds from the FG, we will write off all the debt profile of Delta State clean without touching FAAC and IGR receipts which means that Delta is the only state that can write off all the debts.
“Why are we not cleaning up the debt profile if we are so sure that the refunds from FAAC can clean it up? Okowa is a very conservative manager of resources.
“When he came on board in 2015, he saw real hell in trying to manage resources of the state which is why all the state governors have to take the salary bailout of which that of Delta got N10 billion.
“The truth is if we are to take the total refunds, we will be putting the successive government into the same trap which Okowa met in 2015.
“So he (Okowa) decided that he will be his brother’s keeper, he will take a percentage of it and leave the other for the incoming administration.
“I do know that most of all the oil producing states went ahead to discount 100% of the expected refund. If we had done that, then we would have been able to clean up our debt profile.”
“So we are laying a very solid financial foundation for them to come and hit the ground running. That is why we didn’t clean up the totality of the debt, we know that the cash flow is enough to sustain our legacy projects, it is enough to complete and commission all the legacy projects that we are doing,” he added.