By Godswill Gankon

The Governor of Kaduna state, Senator Uba Sani, like the proverbial masquerade, has chosen to dance naked in the market place. This time, he chose an unwilling partner in the naked dance. Since he left office, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has done everything humanly possible to stay away from Kaduna state and the governance of the state, as he promised when he was leaving office last year. Yet, his successor along with his hangers on, would not let him be. The only issue that they have always harped on is the state’s debt profile.

Now, contrary to Governor Sani’s claim, that the state only got about N3 billion from the Federation Allocation last month, figures from StatiSense has shown that the state got a Net Allocation of N17.52 billion from the Federal Allocation for January and February, 2024. This translates into an average of N8.7 billion per month. That is some N5.7billion per month difference! Why would a Governor who enjoyed being addressed as His Excellency recklessly fabricate figures about the State's Federal allocation and the deductions? Clearly, Governor Uba Sani deliberately reduced the income whilst exaggerating the deductions by more than double the actual amount so as to whip up sentiments against his predecessor.
Worse still, it was gathered from reliable sources within Governor Uba Sani's administration that even the wage bill of over N5 billion per month is as a result of his reckless appointments of political hangers on. The monthly wage bill was reported to be considerably lower during the tenure of El-Rufai.

Surprisingly, there has been so much fuss about what I have termed the “Lamentations of Uba Sani” that he inherited a debt burden of $587 million, N85 billion and 115 contractual obligation from the immediate past administration of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. He said he was unable to pay workers’ salaries due to the inherited debt, adding that the debt burden was eating deep into the state’s coffers.

I used the word “surprising” because sometimes in January this year, I had written about the sponsored media attacks on the person of El-Rufai and the government he led between 2015 and 2023.

In the piece entitled, “El-Rufai Moves to Katsina as Masari Moves to Kaduna”, I submitted that there was a common saying in the political and developmental circles in Kaduna state that former Governor Nasir El-Rufai has swapped position and place with his former colleague in Katsina state, Rt. Hon. Bello Aminu Masari.

The statement, I reasoned, was an euphemism suggesting that the bold ideas and purposeful leadership that the diminutive Mallam gave to Kaduna were being replicated in Katsina while Kaduna is witnessing the lacklustre performance synonymous with the Masari years in Katsina state.

I then went on to write that the so-called "discovery that the state was hugely indebted to a whooping (sic) sum of $600 million foreign debt" was everything but a discovery.

After chronicling the role played by the incumbent governor when he was a senator in procuring a $300 million loan facility, I stated that there was nothing to reveal about the debt situation of Kaduna state as El-Rufai himself had told the whole world during the handing over ceremony the assets and liabilities that he was leaving on the 29th of May, 2023.

El-Rufai had said he was leaving a domestic debt of N80.60bn and a foreign debt of $577.32m for the new administration. He also announced that he left N5bn and $2.05m in the state treasury.

El-Rufai added, "Kaduna State has receivables for reimbursements of infrastructure and security spending from the Federal Government, amounting to about N41bn, that will be paid to the state in due course.

"This does not include the sums due to the state as share of the accumulated stamp duties receipts, estimated at over N100bn, that the incoming government will certainly receive before the end of this year."

As a concerned Kaduna citizen but one who is not a fan of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, I had expected that Governor Sani would not just confirm the liabilities but also the assets. However, after getting some hirelings to make some noise about the state’s debt profile barely six months into his reign, the governor himself has now decided to rehash the same old stories that his lickspittles have been parroting.

Again, like his forerunners, Governor Sani only confirmed the same debts that Mallam El-Rufai had by himself announced to the whole world.

However, he did that without as much as a mention of the N5bn and $2.05m in the state treasury, reimbursements of infrastructure and security spending from the Federal Government, amounting to about N41bn and the accumulated stamp duties receipts, estimated at over N100bn.

An indicative evidence of bad faith and wicked politics of the friend turned enemy is the mentioning of 115 contractual liabilities. What does it mean and how much is the debt implication? Are the contractual liabilities not part of the debts? What happens to the underlying assets from the contractual liabilities? Why has it taken the Governor almost a year before these “open lamentations”. Is Uba Sani playing politics or preparing the ground or excuse for the dismal performance that is becoming synonymous with his administration when compared with the immediate past administration?

Perhaps, the buzz generated around the loan issue is because Governor Sani himself has come out to re-echo the debt issue and blame his inability to pay salaries on it. But, is government not said to be a continuum? When an administration takes over from an outgoing administration does it not inherit its assets and liabilities? Didn’t the El-Rufai administration or any other government elsewhere inherit assets and liabilities? Some of us are aware that nearly half of the debts that Governor Sani is complaining of were inherited by the El-Rufai Administration. But, Mallam never made it an excuse not to deliver on his mandate.

It makes no sense to talk about debts without addressing the corresponding assets, if only because revenues from the investments in which the debts were incurred could exceed the cost of servicing the debts and therefore be a blessing.

In my humble view, it would have made sense if Governor Sani is coming out to tell us that the loans that he partook in facilitating were not used for the intended purposes. Then, Mallam and his team can be called to explain how the loans were spent.

But again, that would be a tall order because Governor Sani himself while fighting tooth and nail to procure some of the loans is on record to have said on the 5th of March, 2020, “I have assured my colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives that it is not possible for the Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, to fail on the promises of his administration regarding the use or disbursement of the loan from the World Bank. I even insist that I, Senator Uba Sani, be held liable if the the Governor fails or disappoints. But, of course, I know El-Rufai will never fail the people of Kaduna state, I am extremely happy and proud of the role some of us played in securing this loan for Kaduna state.”

So, how can you be “extremely happy and proud” of the role you played in securing loan for our state and then turn round now to lament the same loans? Does it not smack off double-speak and inconsistency?

Worse of all, a huge part of the debt was covertly, corruptly and perhaps criminally diverted by the then Senator Sani under the much-abused Godwin Emefiele's Anchor Borrowers Scheme.

Governor Sani should please tell the world how much of the loan he accessed from the CBN/ Kaduna State's treasury and how much he has repaid after his detention by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

A sizable portion of the so-called debts was also used to complete the building and furnishings of a new Governor's residence into which he moved, even before being sworn in as the State Governor!

Even now, he is said to be building a N7billion Banquet Hall at the Government House. Pray, of what economic benefit is a banquet hall to us as a people, especially at a time that the Governor is claiming inability to pay salaries? Is it necessary? What infrastructural significance is it adding to the state? Lagos State has the highest debt burden among the states, but the infrastructure is seen everywhere.

Put differently, Lagos State has the highest debt burden of all the States in Nigeria just as the USA has the highest debt burden of all the countries in the world, yet their leaders have not lamented that it is the debt burden that has made them not to deliver on their promises to the electorate or even the most elementary duty as the payment of salaries.

Governor Sani also conveniently forgot to mention the level of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) which he inherited even when he claimed that the balance from the monthly Federal allocation could not cover the monthly salary. What happened to the IGR which I understand was enough to cover the monthly salary under El-Rufai's Administration? According to BudgetIT, this was a distinction that was enjoyed by only Lagos and Kaduna of all the 36 States in the Federation up until 2023.

Those who should know have said when a Governor comes out and tells you about the size of the debt left to him, but does not comment specifically about the debt servicing implications on the budget, he is merely giving excuses for failure!

When he now goes to a Town Hall where he is supposed to outline his achievements in office in almost a year to say this is why he cannot meet his basic obligation of paying salaries when at least 60% of the FX loans are on concessionary terms and will be till he leaves office; when his own 2024 Budget puts debt servicing at around 5.6% of the total budget; when his accounts open with a N9 billion recurrent expenditure surplus; when his personnel costs are quadrupling at Government House but he has cut Local Government’s share of IGR from 10% to 1%; when he is secretly negotiating $100million in fresh (non-legacy) external loans himself, then you know the people are in for many more surprises!

Governor Sani should put on the proverbial thinking cap and stop playing the blame game. There is no where in the world where governance is a tea party. It is a serious job. He asked for it. He should roll up his sleeves and get to work. Leaders are elected or chosen to solve problems and not to lament or blame others for their failures whereas their lifestyles and priorities do not reflect what they want the rest of us to believe. A stitch in time, they say, saves nine. The day of reckoning would soon be here and we, the people of Kaduna state, will not accept excuses for non-performance!

Godswill Gankon sent this piece from Kafanchan, Kaduna state.

Alright

The governor should respect himself and elrufai. If he knows there's a problem, he should invite independent international auditors to go through the books instead of making noise