Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has alleged that the Kaduna State Government has received over N600 billion from the Federation Account in the last seven years but has nothing to show for it.

He made the allegation yesterday as guest of Freedom Radio Hausa programme, ‘Barka da warhaka’, also lamenting that Kaduna is the second most indebted state in Nigeria after Lagos.

“Although Lagos State is more indebted than Kaduna State, it has the capacity to pay. Governor Babatunde Fashola generates N20 billion monthly internally but Kaduna State does not get N1 billion from Internally Generated Revenue,” he pointed out.

The former minister also pointed out that Kaduna state receives the second highest monthly statutory allocation from the Federation Account in the North after Kano State, “yet it has nothing to show for it.”

El-Rufai, who is the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for next year’s elections, explained that his criticisms were not borne out of partisanship because other PDP states like Gombe and Katsina are executing laudable projects, wondering: “Why should their own PDP government be different?”

The governorship candidate also faulted the State Government’s claim that it used the bulk of the money that accrued to it in the last seven years in paying debts as the government is still indebted to contractors to the tune of N20b to N30b.

According to the former minister, the debt accrued in the last seven years because the Ahmed Makarfi administration had liquidated all debts by 2006. “Architect Namadi Sambo did not inherit any debt in 2007 when he assumed office as governor of Kaduna State,” he added.

The APC flagbearer recalled that the country had exited external debts in 2005 during the Obasanjo administration but what remained were debts between states and the Federal Government. “By 2006, the Makarfi administration had paid off all domestic debts,” he said, adding that “this fact can be verified from the website of the Debt Management Office (DMO).”

El-Rufai lamented that the present PDP administration in Kaduna has saddled the state with so much debt that the incoming government will find it difficult to execute most of its projects.

Hee promised free education in Kaduna State up to junior secondary school level if elected governor in 2015. “Our own free education will not be like the PDP one; under our administration, parents will not pay any levy at all,” he said.

•Photo shows El-Rufai.

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