Kwankwaso: Ganduje taking loans for unnecessary projects

Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano, says he is not happy with the performance of the administration of Abdullahi Ganduje, his successor.

Kwankwaso and Ganduje were former political allies but their relationship went sour shortly after the latter succeeded the former as governor of the state.

The acrimony between the duo contributed to the defection of Kwankwaso from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the build-up to the 2019 general election.

Asked about his relationship with Ganduje, the former Kano governor, in an interview on Arise Television, on Friday, said there is no personal issue with his former political ally.

He said disagreements on governance strained his relationship with Ganduje immediately after he was elected as Kano governor.

Kwankwaso said the current Kano state government usually borrows to execute “unnecessary projects”.

He said during his two terms as governor of the state, he did not borrow to execute projects.

“Well, on personal ground, there is just no issue but on the issue of governance. Certainly, we are not satisfied with what the government is doing, probably it was even the genesis of the negative relationship that started immediately after he was elected,” he said.

“There are certain things that they are doing which do not conform with our beliefs and don’t conform with our ideology.

“Take for example the issue of debt. In Kwankwasiyya, we don’t believe in borrowing except when it is extremely necessary.

“I’m happy to say that when I was governor from 1999 to 2003, I did not borrow one single kobo or naira from anybody both local and international.

“On the contrary, we paid every naira that was borrowed by my predecessor at that particular time.

“Also when I went back in 2011, we met a lot of debt, especially the ones that were borrowed just before we went in, at least $200 million for issues like malaria, mosquito and so on.

“We asked our commissioners to go and follow due process with the World Bank and other organisations.

“Before we left, we settled every naira. We paid 100 percent and of course all for what we did in Kano, in terms of projects, programmes and so forth, especially in the educational sector.

“We don’t believe in borrowing anything from anybody. For the two times, 2003 and 2015, that I left government there was no one single debt for Kano state — zero.

“I can tell you earlier this year, our investigation shows that Kano state is indebted to about N185 billion and that is not acceptable in our own arrangement. Some of the projects that have been claimed that are being done were projects in our opinion that were not necessary.

“You don’t borrow money to go and start building things that are not necessary now.”