The Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, has denied taking any foreign loan to executive developmental projects for the state.
He made this known while reacting to a BBC Hausa Service report aired earlier today, which listed Sokoto among the northern states that have taken loans to execute developmental projects.
The governor, who expressed dismay over the inclusion of Sokoto State among the northern states involved in the loan issue, said his administration has never received any loan from anybody from within or outside the country.
“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 was 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 Office before going on air.
“I challenge any individual or body that has any record where we applied for, or received any foreign or local loans to produce the document.
“You can’t take a loan without following certain procedures, including seeking approval from your state lawmakers. On our case, there is nothing like that,” he declared.
The governor added said that all the projects he has executed across the length and breadth of the state were funded through the monthly allocation from the federation account or the money realised from the state 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.
Arewa PUNCH recalls that the BBC Hausa service had earlier on Monday reported that the Sokoto State government is among the northern states that have taken foreign loans to execute developmental projects.
It was wrongly reported that the present administration has taken a foreign loan amounting to $489mn to execute projects across the state.
