Politics
Local, foreign banks cautioned against granting loan to Gov El-Rufai
Financial institutions in Nigeria and outside have been warned against granting Governor Nasir El-Rufai-led government of Kaduna State loan facilities.
The warning was made by the three senators currently representing Kaduna State at the Senate, Senators Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna North); Shehu Sani (Kaduna Central); and Danjuma La’ah, (Kaduna South).
The senators, who stated this in a statement they jointly signed and issued in Abuja on Wednesday, said that the warning is necessary to forewarn the institutions so that they do not fall victim of El-Rufai’s alleged efforts to obtain huge loans through the back door.
Recall that the governor’s requests for approval of $350 million loan was rejected by the Senate in April 2018. He had since accused the three senators of masterminding the rejection of his loan request by the Senate.
On El-Rufai’s alleged latest efforts to secure loans without recourse to the Senate, the senators from his state asked money lenders to approach the Debt Management Office (DMO) for necessary briefing before venturing to grant loan facility to Kaduna State government.
Part of the statement read, “Caution to chief executives of commercial banks and other finance houses, local and abroad, on loan offers beyond the solvency of Kaduna State government emphasised that the Kaduna State government recently failed the legal litmus test in obtaining a World Bank facility to the tune of USD 350,000,000, through the process of the Nigerian Senate.
“Information available to us the three senators representing Kaduna State confirms the resort by the state government to other routes in obtaining loans, local and international.
“The Committee on Foreign and Local Loans/Debts of the Senate is not unaware of efforts by the state government to negotiating with some finance houses to procure huge foreign loans to the detriment of state government.
“Such efforts being made through private finance management companies may have to do with the failure of the state government to secure the disapproved USD 350million earlier this year through the Senate.
“The public to note, the extent of desperation the state chief executive went to town on personalising the official disapproval of the loan, which was officially reported by the Senate and backed by the DMO official reports.
“The desperation of the state government has now reached an epoch of reckless dimension as to use private finance companies (Home and Abroad) to negotiate and procure similar facilities through other mediums alternatively circumventing the Senate.
READ ALSO: SPECIAL REPORT…THE MALABU CHRONICLES: Inside Nigeria’s dirty oil wars and the missing questions
“The Senate committee on Foreign and Local Debts and senators representing Kaduna State are also aware of the efforts of Kaduna State government to negotiate and collect huge unreasonable sums of local currencies loans through Nigerian local banks.
“The three senators and indeed the committee for foreign and local debt of the Senate use this medium to alert chief executives of the local commercial banks, finance houses, foreign finance managers and finance houses, to take seriously the commercial and ethical responsibilities in doing business with the current leadership of Kaduna State government under Governor Nasir el-Rufai.
“The banks and finance managers are in their own interest and the wider interest of the public in the state advised to not only seek approval of Kaduna State legislature (Which has long before now turned to be a rubber stamp of the governor), but also turn to the DMO for correct indices and reports of the current debt status of the state government.
RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears
Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...