Katsina State Governor Dikko Umaru Radda has refuted the claims by the Debt Management Office (DMO), that his administration had ballooned the state’s debt profile.
The governor, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Ibrahim Kaula Mohammed made available to LEADERSHIP faulted the report’s verdict, stressing that his administration had preoccupied itself with repaying subsisting loans secured by previous administrations since it came on board.
The statement maintained that not a single new loan has been collected by the present All Progressives Congress (APC), the government in Katsina, under Governor Radda.
“This is not to say that the state government will not borrow whenever the need arises. It could borrow to improve the lot of its people and the state in general.
“At the moment, however, there is no new loan. While we appreciate the efforts of the media in keeping the public informed about government activities, we regret any inconvenience the publication might have caused.
“We call on the media, and the members of the public to continue to support the present administration in its effort to provide meaningful projects to uplift the living standard of its citizenry,” part of the statement reads.
Recall that a report recently published by DMO indicated that Katsina under Governor Radda, together with some other states of the federation, collected fresh loans, to worsen their prevailing debt crises.