3 Kaduna Senators Stop Gov el-Rufai’s $350m Loan Request

BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA –  The face-off between Governor Nasir el-Rufai and the three Senators from Kaduna State took the centre stage at the Nigerian Senate on Thursday as controversial Senator Shehu Sani led his two other colleagues to stop the 350 million US dollars loan request by the Kaduna State government.

The three senators are, Shehu Sani (APC), representing Kaduna Central. State; Suleiman Hunkuyi (APC), representing Kaduna North; and Danjuma Laah (PDP), representing Kaduna South. State, Kaduna

The trio were unanimous in their rejection of the loan, being the fall-out of a frosty relationship with the State government that has seen Governor el-Rufai ordering the demolition of a building belonging to Senator Hunkuyi. The demolished structure housed the Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) faction that is opposed to the governor in the state.

However, before Thursday’s ‘no show’ for the Kaduna State Governor, all three lawmakers had clearly shown their unbending position during debate at the plenary, with Senator Shehu Sani, who chairs the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Loans and Debts as the arrow head.

Presenting the Committee’s report, Senator Sani, said the request was rejected as approval of the loan would throw up Kaduna as the second most indebted state in the country.

According to Senator Sani, Kaduna State’s loan profile from 1960 till date stands at about $232 million, and additional $350 million would take the total figure $582 million.

This position received the endorsement of Senators Hunkuyi and Laah as both spoke in support of the Senate’s decision to reject the State government’s loan request.