Governor Umo Eno’s Loan Claim under Scrutiny: Documents Reveal N1.204 billion Zenith Bank Loan
By Ekemini Simon
The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Umo Eno has repeatedly said that his administration has not taken any loan from financial institutions during the last two years of his administration.
One of the occasions the governor made the claim was on Friday, May 23 during his investiture as Patron of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations in Uyo.
“As we stand today, we have not in the last two years borrowed a dime from anybody. We have been building a serving pool from the funds that came to us to be able to seamlessly finance our projects and development,” Eno said.
The Governor and his Aides at public events and media rounds have continued to publicize the claim.
However, checks into the government financial documents tell a different story.
According to the 2023 Audited Financial Statements of Akwa Ibom State, as captured on page 92, the Government of Akwa Ibom State took a loan of N1.204 billion from Zenith Bank for what it tagged as ” New UBE N1.204bn loan”.
Further analysis of the Budget Implementation Reports (BIR) of the four quarters of 2023 show precisely the period in which the State Government took the 2023 loan. The Third Quarter BIR shows that the loan was taken between July and September 2023, the quarter that had Mr. Umo Eno as Governor.
On page 11 of the BIR, under the subhead of loans/borrowing receipts, the report shows that N1.204bn was obtained within July and September from the line item of Direct Credit Substitute and Discounting Facility.
This contradicts the Governor’s claims of not borrowing any money despite the loan being within the State’s budgetary approval of N130.1 billion for domestic loans in the 2023 fiscal year.
This is not the first time acquisition of a loan by the Umo Eno’s administration has become topical. In November 2023, a Civil Society Organisation, Policy Alert reported that the administration of Governor Umo Eno had taken the N1.204bn loan. This was followed by rebuttal from the government although without making reference to its financial documents.
As Governor Umo Eno continues to publicize the claim of no loan taken by his administration, the government is yet to clarify why its financial books point to the Umo Eno’s administration taking a loan of N1.204 billion within the first four months of his administration as against his position.