Benue yet to access N40b bond, says commissioner

Benue State Commissioner for Information, Joseph Shimaor, has denied as misleading, insinuation that government has accessed and misapplied N40 billion bond.

Shimaor made this denial yesterday in Makurdi, while interacting with newsmen.He maintained that the state government was yet to access the bonds, contrary to the claims by some mischievous people.He said: “There are processes involved in accessing bonds and not what can just rise up and grap. All the processes and conditions must be fulfilled before the bonds would be accessed.

“We have not even done 50 per cent of the processes. In fact, we have not even gotten close to it. Bonds are not liquid cash that can be accessed with ease, as erroneously claimed by mischief makers.”

The commissioner however, said, the bond, when finally accessed would be used for infrastructure development, while part of it would be used to offset personnel costs.According to him, nobody pricked the governor to apply for the N40 billion bonds to state for the development of the state.

Shimaor also debunked the claim that the governor was giving N10 million to all the aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state who lost the primaries. He said no such thing occurred, adding that it was the figment of the imagination of mischief-makers, who are all out to destroy anything good about the state administration.

He explained that a rebound requires cash, noting that before a bond is obtained, it must pass through the security and exchange commission.

“On the government side, we have not had it. They queried some things and we have answered them, even as we are 50 per cent close to getting it, but are still waiting.“It was meant for certain projects and a little part of it would be for settling personnel costs. The governor, in his transparency had said it. People should focus on issues and am happy that the media are here to balance the report.