Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, has raised the alarm that his administration inherited a huge debt burden of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities from the previous administration, making it difficult for him to pay workers’ salaries now.
The governor, who stated this in Kaduna on Saturday while addressing a Town Hall Meeting, added that the huge debt burden was eating deep into the State’s monthly Federal Allocation of fund, hence the state was finding it difficult to pay monthly salaries.
Governor Sani lamented that due to the rise in the exchange rate, Kaduna State is now paying back almost triple of what was borrowed by the previous administration of former governor Nasir El-Rufai.
He, however, said that despite the humongous debt burden on the State government, he was yet to borrow a single kobo in the last nine months of his administration.
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He explained that N7billion out of the N10billion Federal Allocation due to the State in the month of March was deducted to service the debt.
The governor further lamented that the state was left with N3billion, an amount which is not enough to pay salaries, as the state’s monthly salary bill stands at N5.2billion.
The governor has however urged the people that despite the debt burden, his administration will remain resolute in steering Kaduna State towards progress and sustainable development.
In his words, “despite the huge debt burden of 587 million Dollars, 85 billion Naira, and 115 Contractual Liabilities sadly inherited from the previous administration, we remain resolute in steering Kaduna State towards progress and sustainable development. We have conducted a thorough assessment of our situation and we are sharpening our focus accordingly.
