Shehu Sani, chairman, senate
committee on local and foreign debt, has advised Nasir el-Rufai, governor of
Kaduna, to use the “meagre” resources available to run the state.
In an interview with NAN on
Monday, the senator wondered why governors could not use distributions from the
excess crude account and Paris Club Refund to execute projects.
He said the senate rejected the
Kaduna government’s request for a $350 million loan due to the state’s high
debt profile.
The senate rejected the request
on March 29, following a strong opposition from the three lawmakers
representing the state at the upper legislative chamber.
Last week, el-Rufai described the
senators as enemies of the state, saying their action showed that they are
“useless”.
“The senators from the state who
worked against the World Bank loan are useless; they came out and said this
loan should not be given. What is their reason for rejecting the loan? It is
because they are haters of the masses in Kaduna state,” he had said.
He added that senators from the
state were not privy to the loan, and that contributed to its unanimous
rejection.
“How can you be governor of a
state and all your three senators, including the one from PDP, are opposed to
it?” he asked.
“I have never heard of it. I have
treated cases of loan here as the chairman of committee on local and foreign
debt. There were cases where one senator is opposed to it but two are for it or
the other way round. As a governor of a state, if you are desirous of a loan,
the first people you should consult are the legislators; he did not do that.
“So, I do not think the attitude
of consistent insult on us and the institution of the national assembly will be
of value. If you need loan, you do not go insulting a bank manager; you have to
convince him that you are worth it.”
Sani said approving the loan for
a state with a high debt profile will put a lot of burden on future
generations.
“We rejected the loan to save the
children of Kaduna state from the slavery of debt that will overtake them in
the future,” he said.
“Most political elite leave
behind for their children, hotels, houses, mansions and estates, but they leave
mountains of debts for the children of the poor. I do not see the reason why
state governors cannot use the Paris Refund, the bailout funds and Excess Crude
Account distributions to execute their projects and programmes. Why must they
go for loans?
“If Gombe State is where it is
today and other states like Sokoto are still working and they have never
approached us for loan, why Kaduna state. If the loan is even reasonable, you
will look at it from that point of view. The tenure of a government is at most
eight years and you leave behind 20, 30, 40 years of loan for people to pay.”
He said that as chairman of the
committee on loans, he owed it a duty to the state and all other states to
ensure that states that were in debt did not acquire more debts.
“It is my duty as the chairman of
the committee to do what I need to do to save a state that is already in so
much debt,” he said.
“My state is indebted to the tune
of about 225 million dollars, the second most indebted state in the country and
you tell me to approve another loan of 350 million dollar.
“We had to turn down the request.
If it is me, people will say I have a running battle with the governor but the
other two senators are equally opposed to it.”
Senator Shehu Sani if what u explain is true then sir, wallahi u are right. I see no reason the Governors can not use all half of the money given to them by the Federal Govt to carry out the State Project. May God help us
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