On May 28, just a day before leaving office, Governor Aliyu took out a bank loan from a commercial bank and used the money to pay himself his severance pay and pension. Having inherited huge debts upon assuming office Governor Abubakar Bello is incensed that the last loan was taken out for personal gain.
He has asked Dr Aliyu to refund the money as it was not taken out to benefit the people of the state, stressing that all such recovered monies would be used for capital projects. Dr Ibrahim Dooba, Governor Bello's chief press secretary, said that although the new administration would not witch-hunt any past leader, the misappropriated money belongs to the people.
Dr Dooba added: “They took this loan on the eve of their departure and as was customary with that administration, they did nothing with the money. You can’t collect a loan on behalf of the people and share it among yourselves as that’s literally what they did.
"They simply raised a list and allocated money to those on the list. The office of the secretary to the state government for example was given N600m and the records did not say what he would do with the money, so we want our money back as it belongs to the people.”
According to Dr Dooba, the people of Niger State need food, shelter, security, roads, water and the new governor wants to start with the provision of potable water and in the coming weeks. He added that on the problem of electricity, they are looking at an arrangement to rent a power plant from overseas before a permanent solution is found.
Also, he added that work has commenced on road reconstruction. Among the roads currently receiving attention include the Minna-Kataeregi, Kontagora-Tegina, Minna-Suleja, Bakeko-Katcha, Kaffin-Koro, Kuta-Sabon Gari and Maitumbi-Maikunkele roads.
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