Kaduna State House of Assembly has set up a committee to probe all finances, loans and contract projects awarded under the former Governor Nasiru El-Rufai.
The legislative panel would also investigate El-Rufai’s top associate and Senior Counselor on Investment, Jimi Lawal.
The panel would probe financial dealings, loans and grants and other project implementation from 2015-2023.
The legislature set up the fact-finding committee on Tuesday at the plenary at the Lord Lugard Legislative Complex in Kaduna.
The State Assembly also mandated the committee to invite notable personalities including the former speakers of the 8th and 9th Assembly, commissioners of finance, former managing directors of Kaduna markets, and commissioners of budget and planning, among others.
Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts and also the Deputy Minority Whip, Mugu Yusuf, spearheaded the motion.
He said the necessity for the public to grasp the realities of that timeframe, especially following unsettling remarks made by Governor Uba Sani on March 28, 2024, regarding the state’s financial condition.
Mr Yusuf underscored the unfairness of the ensuing character assaults on both the governor and his office, stating his commitment, alongside like-minded colleagues, to upholding accountability and transparency as mandated by his role.
Highlighting Kaduna’s substantial indebtedness, trailing only Lagos among Nigeria’s 36 states, Yusuf stressed the severity of a state’s inability to meet salary obligations.
El-Rufai and his successor Governor Uba Sani have been at loggerheads over huge debts left by the former in the state.
It would be recalled that Governor Uba Sani during a town hall meeting, revealed that he inherited a total of $587m, N85bn, and 115 contract liabilities from El-Rufai.
The governor said N7 billion out of the N10 billion federal allocation for the state in March was deducted at source to service debt.
This made one of the sons of the former governor Bashir el-Rufai to accusse Uba Sani of surrounding himself with incompetent aides and truancy.
