Newspeg reports that a former Senator who represented Kaduna Central during the Buhari administration, Shehu Sani has reacted to the House of Assembly probe against former governor Nasir El-Rufai.
Recall that the chairman of the Assembly’s ad-hoc committee, Henry Zacharia, had while presenting its report on Wednesday, said that most of the loans obtained under the El-Rufai administration were not used for the purpose for which they were obtained, and that due process was not followed in securing the loans.
It also further reported that the Speaker of the Assembly, Yusuf Liman, had said that El-Rufai siphoned a total of N423 billion, while leaving the state with huge liabilities.
History of Sani’s objection to Kaduna loans
Sani, then the Chairman of Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, had rejected the Kaduna State Government’s request for a $350 million World Bank loan, due, according to him, to the state’s high debt profile.
Newspeg recalls that El-Rufai, at a public function, had cursed three senators representing the state for opposing the $350 million loan, and also described them as “enemies of the state, people and All Progressive Congress”.
On why the three Senators rejected the loans, Sani, “We rejected the loan to save the children of Kaduna State from the slavery of debt that will overtake them in the future.
“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 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.
“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.
“My state is indebted to the tune of about $225 million, the second most indebted state in the country and you tell me to approve another loan of $350 million.
“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.
“We were not convinced, that is the fact. You cannot take half a billion dollar debt for a state that does not have any functional industry.
“All the textile industries in the state have closed down and the several cases of kidnap in the state have driven many people out of town.
“So, the governor should use the meagre resources available to run the state.
“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.
“How can you be governor of a state and all your three senators, including the one from PDP, are opposed to it?
“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’s reaction to the Assembly’s probe of Kaduna loans
Reacting to the probe of El-Rufai, Sani recalled that he stood alone against Kaduna state government’s request to the Senate to approve the World Bank loan of $350 million.
According to him, the state was systematically being looted by the Governor and the criminal gang around him.
“For eight years, I stood alone telling the people of Kaduna state and the country how our state was systematically looted by the Governor and the criminal gang around him.
“The People inside and outside the state were deceived with aesthetics and industrial scale propaganda.
“They wrecked the economy of the state,enriched themselves and their families, destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions of people and used religion to divide our state.
“I was persecuted and many attempts were made on my life and that of my supporters.
“Many politicians in the state were silenced out of fear of arrest,attacks by thugs or having their properties confiscated or demolished.
“I refused to be silenced.
“The Kaduna Assembly report is a vindication,” Sani tweeted on his X handle @ShehuSani on Wednesday.
