Protesters under the aegis of Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance (KCWGG), stormed the Government House, Kaduna, on Thursday, to demand the probe and arrest of former governor of the state, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.
The protesters bore placards with inscriptions including “We will occupy all MDAs to chase out all indicted persons in the report.” “Stop servicing all loans that did not follow due process before they were obtained,” among others.
They also asked the incumbent governor, Uba Sani, to invite officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant agencies to arrest and prosecute el-Rufai over his administration’s indictment to the tune of N423 billion.
Leader of the protesters, Comrade Victor Duniya said, lamented that the state has endured financial mismanagement, abuse of power, and a growing debt burden for the past eight years.
He described as most troubling, the finding about the diversion of N10.5 billion meant for pastoral nomadism and the construction of the Milk Industry at Damau, Kubau LGA, for the construction of Galaxy Mall, Kaduna, and overpayments to contractors, payments to unregistered companies, and funds disbursed for work not completed, amounting to over N36.3 billion.
Duniya called on Governor Sani to implement relevant sections of the report that fall under his purview and officially forward the findings of the committee report to relevant anti-corruption agencies to enable them to swing into action and recover the state’s resources at their disposal.
The leader of the protesters was later received behind closed doors by the Deputy governor, Hadiza Balarabe, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Abdulkadir Meyere, Deputy Chief of Staff, Umar Hassan Waziri, Private Personal Secretary (PPS), Professor Bello Ayuba, among others.
On March 30th, 2024, Governor Uba Sani revealed during a town hall meeting that the state faced a substantial debt burden of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities inherited from the previous administration and that it had led to over 70 per cent of the state’s allocation being used to service the inherited debt.
In response, the Kaduna State House of Assembly formed an ad-hoc committee to investigate the state’s financial transactions from May 29th, 2015 to May 29th, 2023.
The committee, led by Barrister Henry Danjuma Magaji, submitted its findings on June 5th, 2024, revealing significant unaccounted funds and irregularities in financial transactions.
The report highlighted mismanagement of funds, diversion of loans, overpayment of contractors, and lack of transparency in the usage of state funds.
