Nasir El-Rufai, former Kaduna State governor, says his administration left behind financial liabilities to the tune of $577.32 million foreign debt, N64.54 billion domestic debt and other contingent liabilities of N16.06 billion for Senator Uba Sani, the new governor.
El-Rufai who disclosed this in his farewell speech at the swearing in ceremony of the new governor in Kaduna on Monday, said his administration spent N818.9 billion as capital expenditure between 2015 and 2022 in the prosecution of first and second State Development Plans which attracted nearly US$5 billion in foreign and domestic investments.
He said he was leaving a net cash balance of about N5 billion in the Treasury Single Account after deductions for the payment of salaries, pensions, and dues to the local government councils in the state.
“We governed under very difficult fiscal circumstances, surviving two recessions, collapses of crude oil prices, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war,” he said.
“We, therefore, had to borrow extensively to spend our way out of the recession and pursue our ambition to make Kaduna great again.”