The Gombe government has released real figures of the state’s debt profile to correct what it regards as falsehood being spread by the opposition.
Mr Muhammad Magaji, the State’s Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development released the information while giving details of the N176.01 billion 2023 budget signed into law by the State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya on Friday.
According to Magaji, despite the fact that Gombe’s debt profile is available on the website of the Debt Management Office (DMO), some persons in the name of politics had continued to spread fake figures.
He stated that though the state government had inherited over N124 billion in debt from the previous administration, the current administration was working to reduce the debt and make the state financially viable.
According to him, the state’s debt profile currently is N120 billion and “this is verifiable and accessible to everyone who visits the DMO.”
He said the figure of N432 billion being peddled as Gombe’s debt was false.
“The debt profile of Gombe State is just at about N120 billion; it is verifiable”, he clarified.
The commissioner stated that the current administration had been servicing the huge debt it inherited and “in 2023 budget, N18.21 billion, representing 10.35 per cent of the total budget, will be used to service debt”.
According to him, the state government has continued to pay salaries and pensions, settling backlogs of gratuities owed since 2014.
He encouraged residents of the state not to listen to the fake news being peddled around.
