Kaduna: Yero left 228m not N8bn, reveals el-Rufa’i

Governor Nasiru el-Rufa’i of Kaduna State has said that his administration inherited only over N228 million in the treasury from his predecessor, Alhaji Ramalan Yero.
The former deputy governor of the state, Mr Nuhu Bajoga, had said that their administration left over N8 billion in the accounts of the State Government when they handed over the mantle of leadership to el-Rufa’i on May 29.
However, el-rufai, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Samuel Aruwan in Kaduna on Sunday, dismissed the claim of Bajoga at a media briefing.
The governor lamented that Yero’s government actually left the state in deficit and the ugly development was now taking its toll on the activities of government.
“The Kaduna State Government had N228,333,371.67 in its central account on 29 May 2015. This represented the working capital that could be spent.
” All other items in the bank balance were committed funds, and are not available to be spent by government. These include counterpart and reserve funds clearly earmarked for specific purposes such as MDGs, SUBEB, Sure-P and state pensions.
”And as such cannot be termed available funds by any responsible government. The N8 billion is only on paper as it is not available in reality,” he added.
He said that the past administration had also incurred outstanding liabilities of N370 million by May 2015, which effectively left the state in deficit as the working capital of over N228 million could not cover the liability.
While commenting on the rationale behind the ongoing verification of workers in the North-West state, the governor stated that it was aimed at getting the accurate data base of the workers .
“The exercise was still ongoing, as poor record-keeping and deliberate attempts to conceal information about the exact financial status of the state had hindered the pace of work of the finance sub-committee of our Transition Committee.
” Once the verification process is concluded, the governor will address the state on the true financial status of the state and will invite anyone with contrary evidence to disprove the analysis,”
On the issue of the establishment of a new University in Kafanchan, he said that the state was currently unable to optimally fund its university in Kaduna.
“It is, therefore, not in a position to start another university. Bajoga should have had the candour to admit that the defunct PDP government’s promise to establish a state university in southern Kaduna was just a gimmick.
”This was so because they neither bothered to send an enabling bill to the State House of Assembly, nor include it in the 2015 budget,” the governor said.