ASHENEWS reports that the Sokoto State government has denied taking any foreign loan to executive developmental projects in the state.
The Press secretary to Sokoto State Governor, Abubakar Bawa stated this in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The statement was in reaction to a BBC Hausa Service report which listed Sokoto State among the Northern States that have taken loans to execute developmental projects.
The government described the report that the state government took foreign loans amounting to $489 million to execute projects across the state as false.
The statement quoted the state governor, Ahmed Sokoto as saying “Let me make it categorically clear that i have never taken any loan from anybody since we came on board.
“I was shocked when i heard my State being listed among the northern States that have collected foreign loan in order to develop their States.
“The BBC report was indeed misleading, and i expect them to verify the information they claimed to have gotten from the Debt Management service before going on air.
“I challenge any individual or body that has any record where we applied or received any foreign or local loans to produce the document.
“You can’t take loan without following certain procedures including seeking approval from your State lawmakers, in our case there is nothing like that.”
The governor in the statement said that all the projects he has executed across the state were funded through the monthly allocation from the federation account or the money realized from the state’s internally generated revenue.
“For now, we don’t need any loan before we execute projects because we are managing the little resources of the State very well,” he said.
A recent report from the Debt Management Office (DMO) earlier revealed that 13 newly inaugurated state governors collectively borrowed a staggering sum of N226.8 billion from domestic and external financiers within the first six months of assuming office.
The analysis of the latest sub-national debt reports released by the DMO revealed that 16 state governors opted to increase the debt profile of their respective states, accumulating a combined sum of N509.3 billion.
