The All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed as mere fallacy, the allegation that all the foreign and domestic debts currently being serviced by the embattled New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) government in Kano State, were incurred by the administration of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Debunking the allegation, Chief of Staff to the National Chairman of the APC, Muhammad Garba, in a statement, said the purported debts claim is misleading and a calculated attempt to shift attention from the myriads of political and financial scandals rocking the administration in the state.
Garba, who was a former commissioner of Information in the state, stated that the claim which was credited to the Director General, Kano State Debt Management Office, Dr Hamisu Sadi Ali is not only deceiving to the administration he serves, but also unbecoming of a public servant heading one the most sensitive organs of government.
Garba stated that while it is true that like any other government in Nigeria, the Ganduje administration had borrowed money, saying however, not all the debts listed by the state Debt Management Office were incurred by the APC government.
He noted with concern how the NNPP government is always bent on maligning the Ganduje administration even without the slightest iota of truth.
The Chief of Staff also observed that the current debt portfolios of Kano state from foreign loans listed by the DMO were secured in 1992, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015 and 2018.
Garba added that these loans included the Multi-state Road Project 11/11/1992 XDR 26,212,376.50; Malaria Control Booster Project 10/10/2007 XDR 11,550,000; State Education Sector Project 6/11/2008 XDR 9,991,875; Third National Fadama Project 16/07/2009 XDR 4,818,310.00 and Health System Development Project II 08/04/2009 XDR 2,313,697.80.
He also listed other loans secured not during the Ganduje administration that included Commercial Agriculture Development Project 16/07/2009 XDR 17,670,000.00; Malaria Control Booster Project (Additional F.) 21/06/2010 XDR 5,927,445.10; Erosion and Watershed Management Project N/A USD 5,000,000.00.
The former commissioner asserted that loans signed by the APC government included the subsidiary loan agreement for the Third National Urban Water Sector Reform Project of about 64 million Euros with the French Development Agency, which was signed in July 018.
Garba noted that the project was halted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is now set for implementation by the present administration in the state.
“Initially, the NNPP government was bragging about this project until the media traced the project to the APC administration, then they started denying securing the loan,” he lamented.
The Chief of Staff said another project which the APC government secured loan for their execution is the Kano State Agro Processing, Productivity, Enhancement P. N/A USD 36,847,000.00 on which the present administration has been implementing for the benefits of the teeming populace.
He stated further that there was also Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing P. N/A EUR 3,500,000.00; Infrastructure Loan; Excess Crude Account (ECA) November, 2015 N10,000,000,000 Access Bank; Salary Bail-out November, 2015 N20,000,000,000 Fidelity Bank and Budget Support-N17,569,000,000.
Garba advised people holding sensitive offices to be guided by their oath of office and be mindful of the enormous responsibility on them to tell the truth and not misled the public on issues of public interest.