Governor of Sokoto State, Ahmed Aliyu, has denied taking foreign loans to execute developmental projects for the state.
He made this known while reacting to a BBC Hausa Service report aired Monday morning, in which Sokoto was listed among the Northern states that have taken loan to execute developmental projects.
The governor, who expressed dismay over the inclusion of Sokoto State among the Northern states in the loan issue, said his administration has never received any loan from anybody from within or outside the country.
Governor Aliyu in a press statement issued by his chief press secretary, Abubakar Bawa, said, “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 being listed among the northern states that have collected foreign loans 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 or received any foreign or local loans to produce the document.
“You can’t take out a loan without following certain procedures including seeking approval from your state lawmakers, in our case there is nothing like that,” he declared.
The governor further 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 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.
It would be recalled that the BBC Hausa service earlier on Monday reported that the Sokoto State government is among the Northern states that have taken foreign loans to execute developmental projects.
