Group tackles Kwara governor over N35 billion loan

 

Kwara Emerging Voice (KEV) has warned Governor Abdulrasaq Abdulrahman against mortgaging the future of present and unborn generations of Kwarans through the proposed N35 billon loan from the capital market.

The Non – Governmental Organisation in a press statement signed by its Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Bayero, on Wednesday  threatened to drag the governor  Abdulrasaq Abdulrahman-led administration to court if plan on the loan was not jettisoned.
It alleged that the loan was inimical to the aspirations of generality of Kwarans.
KEV in the statement alleged  that a whooping sum of N632.2 million will be deducted on monthly basis for seven years if the government goes ahead to secure the loan.
The agreement the group added, was contained in a 2021 Quasi Corporate Bond Draft Rating Report by Greenland Growth SPV Limited for the Kwara State government.
The statement reads in part, “We wonder how a state that receives an average of #3.5b as monthly allocation will survive if #632.2m is deducted from source.
“With continuous dwindling  of federal revenue and an IGR shrouded in secrecy Kwara will collapse if the government goes ahead to secure the loan.
“More worrisome is the fact that dealings on  the #35 billion loan are shrouded in secrecy as  details of what and what projects the loan will be used to execute are  kept away from Kwarans who will bear the brunt during the years of repayment.”
KEV also accused the  Kwara House of Assembly of complicity and negligence of its statutory duties by rushing to approve such a sensitive matter under twenty four hours without due and detailed scrutiny and considerations on the floor of the House as attested to by Hon Saheed Popoola a member of the KWHA on a   radio programme .


“KWHA never demanded for  details of the projects the  loan will be used for neither did  the House deem it necessary to conduct a public hearing on such sensitive issue to ascertain public opinion on the desirability or otherwise   of the loan”, the statement added.
The group further alleged that the government of Mallam Abdulrasaq Abdulrahman recently received about nineteen billion naira (#19b) from the federal government for projects executed during the tenure of both Dr.Bukola Saraki and Alh Abdulfatah Ahmed.


The projects it says , include Sango – UITH expansion, Offa garage – Michael Imodu – Ganmo dualization project amongst others.
“Our  team of lawyers  are currently studying the 2021 Quasi-Corporate Bond Draft Rating Report of Greenland Growth SPV Limited and other documents relating to the proposed bond with a view to taking appropriate legal action against the the state government on the planned loan,” the group  threatened.