Kaduna assembly to probe ‘multi-million dollar loans’, projects under el-Rufai

The Kaduna house of assembly has set up a committee to examine the finances of the state under the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, the immediate past governor of the state. 

The committee has been tasked with looking at loans, grants, and project implementation from 2015 to 2023 — the period in which el-Rufai held sway as governor.

Henry Zacharia, chairman of the house committee on information, confirmed the development to TheCable.

Zacharia said the 13-member fact-finding committee was set up during plenary on Tuesday “to find out the financial dealings of the state under the former governor”.

On March 30, Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, said his administration inherited a debt of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities from the el-Rufai administration.

Speaking during a town hall meeting, Sani also said he has not borrowed “a kobo in the last nine months”.

He, however, said the huge debt burden is eating deep into the state’s share of the monthly federation allocation.

The house has charged the committee to summon prominent figures, including former speakers of the 8th and 9th assembly, commissioners of finance, former managing directors of Kaduna markets, senior counsellor Jimi Adebisi Lawal, and former commissioners of budget and planning.

The motion of urgent public importance, moved by Mugu Yusuf, a lawmaker representing the Kaura constituency, was unanimously seconded by other members of the assembly during Tuesday’s plenary presided over by Yusuf Liman, the speaker.

After deliberations, the speaker said the ad hoc committee would investigate abandoned projects and foreign loans received by the previous administration, noting that residents of Kaduna have a right to be informed about its financial position.

Lawal Aminu, a member representing the Doka/Gabasawa constituency, is the chairman of the committee.

Other members are Mugu Yusuf, representing the Kaura constituency; Munira Sulaiman Tanimu, the majority leader; and Shehu Pambegua, chairman house committee on appropriation; among others.