The Kano State Debt Management Office has announced that it has successfully serviced N63,508,024,580.03 in both foreign and domestic debts accumulated under the previous administration led by Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The Director General of the office, Dr. Hamisu Sadi Ali, shared these details in a press briefing, highlighting efforts by the current administration to reduce the state’s debt burden.
Dr. Ali emphasized that the government under Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has not taken on any new debt since taking office.
He stated, “Let me reiterate that, as the person in charge of the entire state’s debt portfolios, since the inception of Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf’s NNPP administration from 29th May, 2023 to date, no single penny was signed, contracted or received by the Kano State Government within or outside the country as a loan.”
He noted that Governor Yusuf has prioritized debt repayment, significantly decreasing the state’s liabilities. “It is important and worthy to note that, in his efforts to reduce the debt burden of our dear state, His Excellency the Executive Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf had paid an external debt of about N3,491,137,226.73 and domestic debts of N60,016,887,353.57 totalling N63,508,024,580.03 for just first and second quarter of 2024,” Dr. Ali stated. With this payment, the overall debt was reduced to N127,793,608,048.62.
He referenced the Kano State Public Debt Management Law 2021, which authorizes the office to manage the state’s borrowing, stating, “The State Debt Management Office shall ‘subject to the provision of the act, borrow on behalf of the Government, from any individual or institutional bodies.’”
Dr. Ali also detailed foreign loans taken on by the Ganduje administration, including those for infrastructure and development projects, such as the 64 million Euro Third National Urban Water Sector Reform Project with the French Development Agency, signed in July 2018.
He outlined other foreign loans, such as:
– Multi-state Road Project (1992) – XDR 26,212,376.50
– Malaria Control Booster Project (2007) – XDR 11,550,000
– State Education Sector Project (2008) – XDR 9,991,875
– Third National Fadama Project (2009) – XDR 4,818,310.00
– Health System Development Project II (2009) – XDR 2,313,697.80
– Commercial Agriculture Development Project (2009) – XDR 17,670,000.00
– Malaria Control Booster Project Additional Financing (2010) – XDR 5,927,445.10
– Erosion and Watershed Management Project – USD 5,000,000.00
– Kano State Agro Processing, Productivity Enhancement Project – USD 36,847,000.00
– Third National Urban Water Sector Reform Project (2018) – EUR 64,000,000.00
– Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project – EUR 3,500,000.00
Dr. Ali further explained that, until the Ganduje administration, Kano State had never borrowed from domestic lenders, such as commercial banks.
“It is pertinent to note that in the history of our dear state, no government had ever borrowed a single penny from any domestic lender like commercial banks, except Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s APC-led administration that contracted and signed 6 different loans from various commercial banks,” he said.
These domestic loans included:
– Infrastructure Loan and Excess Crude Account (Nov 2015) – N10,000,000,000 from Access Bank
– Salary Bail-out (Nov 2015) – N20,000,000,000 from Fidelity Bank
– Budget Support – N17,569,000,000
The briefing highlighted the current administration’s focus on debt management, with the aim of alleviating the financial burden on Kano State while refraining from incurring additional debt.
