• Ondo domestic debt drops by 82.6%
• Govt clears salary, gratuity arrears
• Over 6,000 workers recruited as health, education, roads, agriculture, power sectors receive boost
By Tolulope Eniola
The Ondo State Government under the administration of Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa has reduced the state’s domestic debt profile by 82.6 per cent within 18 months, describing the figure as the highest debt reduction recorded by any state in Nigeria.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, disclosed this on Friday during the maiden quarterly media briefing of the administration held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Akure.
Adeniyan said the reduction was achieved through prudent financial management, fiscal discipline and effective debt management strategies adopted by the administration since Aiyedatiwa assumed office on February 24, 2025.
He added that the government had also cleared outstanding salary arrears owed to workers and former political office holders, while about 10 years of inherited gratuity arrears owed to pensioners had been cleared.
According to him, the development had provided the administration with the fiscal space to pursue its “OUR EASE” agenda, which focuses on ease of living, ease of doing business and improved infrastructure and public services.
Adeniyan said the administration’s fiscal measures were aimed not only at reducing the state’s debt burden but also at creating room for investment in sectors directly affecting the people.
He said the government had recorded interventions in healthcare, education, road infrastructure, agriculture, power, urban renewal, industrialisation, employment and security within the period under review.
“The central idea is to put the people first, deliver projects that matter and build a foundation for sustainable growth,” he said.
In the health sector, Adeniyan said more than 2,000 health professionals had been recruited, while Ondo State became the first state in the South-West to implement enhanced CONMESS and CONHESS allowances for health workers.
He said the State Executive Council had also approved a N1 billion Hospital Intervention Fund for the expansion and modernisation of healthcare facilities.
According to him, 100-bed capacity upgrades were ongoing at hospitals in Ikare-Akoko, Ore, Irele and Igbokoda, while more than 100 health centres had been renovated across the state.
He added that the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, UNIMEDTH, had been equipped with modern medical facilities, including a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine, 160-slice CT scanner, 3D digital mammography equipment, 4D ultrasound machines and digital X-ray machines.
The Orange Health Insurance Scheme, ORANGHIS, had also been expanded to cover public servants, informal-sector workers, retirees and pensioners, he said.
On infrastructure, Adeniyan said more than 200 kilometres of roads had been completed within the first 18 months, while a 90-kilometre statewide road rehabilitation programme was ongoing.
The programme, he said, allocated five kilometres of road rehabilitation to each of the 18 local government areas.
He also listed the recently flagged-off Akure Flyover along the Oyemekun-Oba Adesida Road among the administration’s major infrastructure projects.
According to him, three major intercity dualisation projects are simultaneously ongoing across the three senatorial districts of the state.
They are the Akungba-Ikare Akoko road in the North, Akure-Idanre road in the Central and Okitipupa-Igbokoda road in the South.
Adeniyan also said the inherited Onyearugbulem-Irese Road flyover project in Akure had been completed and commissioned.
The CPS said the administration had recruited more than 2,000 teachers, comprising 1,010 teachers for public secondary schools and 1,100 for primary schools.
He said the free school shuttle initiative had also been revived, with buses and boats conveying pupils to and from schools.
The administration, he added, had sustained the payment of scholarships and bursaries to tertiary institution students and had paid WAEC examination fees for public secondary school students.
Books, tablets and sports equipment had also been distributed to schools across the 18 local government areas.
Adeniyan disclosed that the governor recently approved a 60 per cent increase in subventions to tertiary institutions, while inherited salary arrears owed to staff of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, had been cleared.
The government’s urban renewal efforts, according to Adeniyan, had also seen the installation of about 5,000 solar streetlight units under the first and second phases of the Light-Up project.
He said Fasoranti Park in Akure was being upgraded with landscaping, walkways, lighting and other facilities.
The Akure Water Supply and Sanitation Project, a component of the $223 million Nigeria Urban Water Sector Reform Programme, was also being implemented to rehabilitate waterworks and expand water distribution networks.
Adeniyan said the Owena Dam project had received renewed attention, while new water pipelines were being laid across the state.
In agriculture, the CPS said the administration had committed more than N10 billion to the sector, with emphasis on food security, investment, value-chain development and farmer support.
More than 500 young people, he said, had been trained and empowered in modern agriculture.
He also announced the inauguration of the Ondo State Cocoa Revolution and Management Board, while 14,000 smallholder cocoa and oil palm farmers had been profiled under the FAO GEF-7 programme across eight local government areas.
Adeniyan said the administration was also pursuing major investments in the Ondo Deep Sea Port, refinery, Free Trade Zone and fertiliser plant.
He said the state’s investment drive had contributed to the return of the Dangote Group to Ondo State, with plans to establish a major industrial zone.
Other proposed investments, according to him, include a 500,000-barrel-per-day refinery, a 1,471-hectare Free Trade Zone in Ilaje and a $4 billion petrochemical, fertiliser and cement project.
On employment, Adeniyan claimed that Governor Aiyedatiwa had created more direct employment opportunities than any previous governor of the state.
“It is on record that no governor has created more direct employment opportunities for the people of the state than Governor Aiyedatiwa,” he said.
According to him, more than 6,000 workers had been recruited into critical sectors, including education, healthcare, security and agriculture.
He added that 1,000 women had been trained under the O’Datiwa Skill-Up a Woman Initiative in tailoring, catering, ICT and other vocational skills, with start-up kits provided to beneficiaries.
The One Youth, One Skill programme had also trained young people in various trades, while interest-free loans and grants had been provided to market women, artisans and small business owners through the Ondo Ease Fund.
Adeniyan said the administration had prioritised workers’ welfare by ensuring that salaries were paid on or before the 25th of every month.
He said inherited salary arrears of civil servants had been cleared, alongside outstanding salary arrears owed to former political appointees who served under the administration of former Governor Olusegun Mimiko between 2009 and 2017.
Pensioners, he added, were receiving their monthly pensions, while the government had been making monthly provisions towards the payment of outstanding gratuities.
“Under this arrangement, this administration has successfully cleared about 10 years of outstanding gratuities,” he said.
On security, Adeniyan said more than 100 operational vehicles had been distributed to security agencies, while 500 new personnel had been recruited into the Amotekun Corps.
He added that a modern Command and Control Centre had also been established and equipped to strengthen surveillance, intelligence gathering and response.
According to him, the measures had contributed to the relative peace being experienced across the state.
Adeniyan said the administration would continue to pursue its “OUR EASE” agenda, with emphasis on fiscal responsibility, infrastructure development, improved public services, investment attraction and job creation.
The quarterly media briefing, he said, was designed to provide the public with regular updates on the activities and performance of the administration.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Leke Adegbite, commended the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor for maintaining a cordial relationship with journalists in the state.
He said the development was in line with the union’s agitation for the appointment of an indigenous journalist as the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, noting that the appointment had strengthened the relationship between the government and journalists in the state.
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