Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf says his administration has settled external debts of over N63bn borrowed by former Gov Abdullahi Ganduje and was not repaid.
The Governor spoke through, Dr Hamisu Sadi-Ali, Director General of the Debt Management Office, Kano at a Press Conference on Tuesday, in reaction to a story, “that the state government had taken the loan of N177 billion from France to fund water project.”
Sadi-Ali insisted that the report was fabricated, revealing that the current administration had rather paid N3,491,137,226.73 as external loans and domestic loans of N60,016,887,353.57 for the first and second quarters of 2024 borrowed by Ganduje’s administration.
He explained that the online newspaper was referring to a subsidiary loan agreement, signed by Ganduje’s government for the Third National Urban Water Sector Reform Project of about €64 million with the French Development Agency in July 2018.
Mr Sadi-Ali insisted that though the Kano State Public Debt Management Law 2021 clearly states that, the State Debt Management Office shall “subject to the provision of the act, borrow on behalf of the government, from any individual or institutional bodies, the current administration had never entered into a loan agreement with the French government since its inception in 2023.
Peoplesmind
