Former Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has dismissed a media report that his administration obtained a N10 billion loan for the installation of Close Circuit Camera (CCTV) project in the metropolis of the Northwest state.
A Civil Society Organisation, Coalition of Political Analysis Forum and Governance, which described the project as phoney alleged that the project in question was never executed.
But Ganduje who spoke through former Kano State Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, said there was no such project and further challenged the CSO to provide evidence. He recalled that the project was halted by the Kano state government in deference to a Court pronouncement.
He said: “To further confirm that they are fake, the so-called organization knew nothing about the project and the hastiness with which their pay masters want them to be in the media exposes clearly their intent.
“We, therefore, challenge them to provide evidence for the N10 billion Naira loan.
“For record purposes, when the last administration conceived the project, the State Executive Council and the Assembly formally granted approval bearing in mind the importance of the project in enhancing security in the state.
“Unfortunately a Federal High Court in Kano, on July 1, 2022 granted an injunction restrained the government from obtaining the loan.”
The former Commissioner also recalled that on July 19, 2022, the same court presided over by Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman said that it was misled in the case by one Yusuf Isyaku Rabi’u, proprietor of another non-existing CSO by the name Kano First Forum, and therefore, discharged the restraining order.
Malam Garba added “that the said loan, for the CCTV camera project, despite its importance in fighting crime and effort to expand security infrastructure, the government decided to expand the project and unfortunately up to the end of its tenure, the facility has not been secured and therefore the project could not be executed.”
He said the Ganduje administration intended to carry out the project in appreciation of its importance and considering that there was even a bill before the National Assembly, which at that time had passed through second reading, that mandated installation of CCTV cameras in private buildings and offices.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
