The former governor of Kano state, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau was busy stealing money when he was ruling the state between 2003 and 2011, says Mr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, the present governor of the state.
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Speaking with reporters during the US-Nigeria Infrastructure Conference at Marriot hotel in Washington DC yesterday, Governor Kwankwaso said that his predecessor stole a lot of money from the treasury of the state government.
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Rabiu Kwankwaso who was for the first time, the governor of the state between 1999 and 2003, noted that he met over 77 Billion Naira and another over 200 Million Dollars debts when he got back to office as governor in 2011.?
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His words: “The official figure that i met as debts incurred by my predecessor was over 77 Billion Naira and another over 200 Million Dollars. The previous government of Ibrahim Shekarau incurred a lot of debts on the state. I am not in hurry to pay all those debts but I am in a hurry to use the resources that we have to develop the state”
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“I am very happy to say that so much has been achieved in the last 18 months despite the huge debts left behind by former governor Shekarau. We are going to do more and that was why we started our major projects very early”
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Asked why he has not commenced a probe process on his predecessor, Governor Kwankwaso said: “We are concentrating on how we will deliever all our electioneering promises to the people of Kano state. We want to give the dividends of democracy to the people. That is why I have not created the chance to probe him”
He however lauded the organisers of the infrastructure summit which he said will create opportunities for foreign investors to know that there are lots of investment privileges for them.
Kwankwaso said that kano state government is very intrested in working with foreign investors from the US and all other parts of the world so as to benefit from each others efforts.
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He added that his administration makes education its priority as a result of the fact that it is the corner stone of the state, urging investors to come to kano and invest in education especially in the area of building secondary schools and universities.?
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He also said that doors are open to investors who may like to invest in the area of agriculture, construction of infrastructure, health and others non-oil sectors in the state.
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Expressing optimism that investors will come to invest in his state and Nigeria as a whole at the end of the summit regardless the security state of the country, Governor Kwankwaso stressed that there are security challenges everywhere even in America. “It is a common case in the world. Investors will be given maximum security when they come to do their businesses in our country” he noted.