Protesters on Thursday stormed Kaduna Government House, asking Governor Uba Sani to invite the officials of EFCC and other relevant security agencies to prosecute his predecessor, Nasil El-Rufai, over an alleged fraud of N423 billion.
The protesters, in large numbers, conducted the peaceful protest under the auspices of a group, ‘Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance (KCWGG)’.
They began trekking from the UTC Bus Stop to the Government House, singing solidarity songs for Mr Sani and displaying several placards with different inscriptions.
They condemned the alleged financial mismanagement, abuse of power and a growing debt burden incurred for eight years by the last administration.
Some inscriptions read, “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. Jimi Lawal almost killed Kaduna State the way he killed a bank some years ago.”
On March 30, 2024, Mr 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.
In response, the Kaduna State House of Assembly formed an ad hoc committee to investigate the state’s financial transactions from May 29, 2015 to May 29, 2023.
The committee, led by Henry Magaji, submitted its findings on June 5, 2024. It revealed the alleged mismanagement of funds, diversion of loans, overpayment of contractors, and lack of transparency in the usage of state funds.
Addressing journalists shortly after arriving at the Government House, Victor Duniya, the chairman of the protesting group, said, ” For the past eight years, our state has endured financial mismanagement, abuse of power, and a growing debt burden.”
He further explained that the most troubling finding was the alleged diversion of N10.5 billion meant for pastoral nomadism and the construction of the Milk Industry at Damau, Kubau LGA and Galaxy Mall, Kaduna.
Mr Duniya added that the report uncovered overpayments to contractors, payments to unregistered companies, and funds disbursed for work not completed, amounting to over N36.3 billion.
“The report also revealed large sums of money withdrawn from the state treasury without proper documentation of its usage.
”Furthermore, an expenditure of over N11 billion on a non-existent MRT transportation scheme was documented with no evidence to support it,” he said.
He added that as concerned citizens, they condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the alleged outright and merciless looting of the state.
Mr Duniya commended the state government and assembly for unravelling the financial misappropriation and called on Mr Sani to implement relevant sections of the report that fell under his purview.
“We call on him to officially forward the findings of the committee report to the relevant anti-corruption agencies to enable them to swing into action and recover our resources at their disposal,” he said.
The group’s chairman was later received by Deputy Governor Hadiza Balarabe, Secretary to the State Government, Abdulkadir Meyere, and Deputy Chief of Staff Umar Hassan-Waziri.
The government officials appreciated the group’s peaceful protest. They assured them their message would be forwarded to the governor, who was unavoidably absent when the protesters arrived at the government house.
NAN