‘Al-Makura Didn’t Run Nasarawa With Commercial Bank Loan’

The chairman of Umaru Al-Makura’s support group, Mr Emmanuel Yakubu, has debunked rumours in some quarters that the former governor had collected loans from commercial banks to run the state during his eight years in office.

The group’s chairman told newsmen in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State, that people should disregard the lies because the former governor had served the state meritoriously, earning him the nickname ‘The architect of modern Nasarawa State’.

He explained that Nasarawa State, like any other State in Nigeria, benefitted from specific interventions at different times between 2009 and 2019 due to certain economic realities at that time.

These economic realities, he said, include falls in oil prices globally and increases in government salaries and wages, which have affected the ability of subnationals to discharge their responsibilities effectively.

“As such, this prompted the Federal Government’s intervention in advancing support to the sub-nationals in the following areas: Budget Support Facility, Salary Bailout, Excess Crude, Sure-P, and Bridging Finance Facility.

“The sub-nationals did not deliberately solicit such interventions; rather, they were extended to them to prevent total breakdown of governance at states and Local Government Areas who could not pay salaries and carry out developmental projects,” he added.

Mr Yakubu added that, like other states, the state government received those interventions when Al-Makura was governor. As insinuated, he never borrowed from commercial banks to run the state.