Kano distances Yusuf from €64m loan secured by Ganduje in 2018

Kano State Government has distanced Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf from a ₦177 billion loan from France secured by the administration of former governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

The government said the claim was a misconception and a “deliberate attempt by selfish individuals to tarnish the ingenuity of the government to promote infrastructural growth.”

Director General, Kano State Public Debt Management Office, Hamisu Sadi Ali, explained that his office was not aware of any of the loans except the debt burden inherited from the immediate past administration.

Ali maintained that under the Kano State Public Debt Management Law of 2021, any borrowing by the government must be managed through the State Debt Management Office and must follow rigorous procedures before it is granted.

He referenced a loan agreement signed in July 2018 by the former All Progressives Congress (APC) government under Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

The DG stressed that it was Ganduje that secured a subsidiary loan of €64 million from the French Development Agency for the National Urban Water Sector Reform Project, of which €13 million had already been disbursed.

Ali emphasized that the current government, led by the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), is focused on servicing existing debts accumulated by the previous administration under Ganduje.

“The loan was signed by Ganduje’s administration and that has been the most recent foreign facility contracted by the state. That loan is intended for the provision of affordable water services,” Ali said.

“And that has been taking, this Government since return to power in May 29, 2023, the NNPP administration had not taken any new loans, either domestically or internationally.”

Ali urged the public to disregard what he called “fake news” from some media outlets and accused the publications of failing to conduct proper investigative journalism.