Kwara to access N20bn bond from capital market

The Kwara State government yesterday disclosed it would be accessing N20 billion bond from the capital market to fund capital projects in the state.

This, according to the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Demola Nurudeen, was necessary to embark on projects because of dwindling in the federal allocation to the state.

Mr Nurudeen disclosed this at the end of the maiden state executive council meeting shortly after the inauguration of commissioners in Ilorin, the state capital.

“The dwindling allocation from the Federal Government to the state is greatly affecting many states in the country and they cannot meet their obligations because more than 50 per cent of allocation coming to the state had been cut. From N3.4bn, Kwara State received only N1.4bn last month.

“And when we consider the implication of that, the state decided that it cannot sit down and watch the state suffer, hence, we agreed to look at other ways of funding our projects, which was why we decided to source N20bn bond from the capital market for our capital projects,” Nurudeen explained.

The Chief Economic Assistant to the state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfattah Ahmed, Mr. Abayomi Ogunshola, explained that taking the bond is subject to the approval of the state House of Assembly.

Ogunsola explained that the state has no fear on repaying the bond because there are standard methodologies on repayment, which would be spread over 10 years.

The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Mahmud Ajeigbe, promised the bond would be spent on communitybased projects that would be spread across the state and would impact on the lives of people.