The Osun State Government has described the claim that it received N9bn World Bank fund with nothing to show for it as outlandish and bogus.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Ismail Omipidan, in a statement on Tuesday, said the state government would have ignored the claim by Senator Francis Fadahunsi, who represents the Osun East Senatorial District at the Senate, but decided to respond to correct the misinformation.
Omipidan said, “The claim by Senator Francis Fadahunsi that Osun State received a certain N9bn World Bank fund with nothing to show for it is not only outlandish, but bogus. At best, the lawmaker representing Osun East simply lied.
“The first reaction was to ignore him. But coming from a lawmaker, who prides himself as a distinguished member of a hallowed chamber that abhors misinformation and fake news, I am compelled to put the records straight.
“There was no N9bn grant anywhere. What we have is a grant of $20m from the World Bank following our impressive performance under the ‘Saving One Million Lives Programme for Result’, which the CBN converted about two years ago, at the prevailing exchange rate in that year, which at best was N305. To show transparency and accountability, the said amount is domiciled with the CBN and releases are made only when they satisfy the World Bank procurement process.”
