Ganduje seeks N20b loan from CBN, blames COVID-19, End SARS

Kano State House of Assembly has approved the request of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to access N20 billion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the United Bank for Africa (UBA).

At its sitting on Monday, the Speaker, Abdulazeez Garba-Gafasa, who read the governor’s request letter, said the infrastructure loan had a 9 per cent interest rate payable after ten years.

Garba-Gafasa said the loan would go a long way in revamping the state economy devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the single-digit interest rate would make it more realistic to liquidate.

Governor Ganduje in the letter told members that a similar facility was earlier obtained in 2016 which was successfully liquidated.

The majority leader, Kabiru Hassan-Dashi, while deliberating on the request urged members to consider the governor’s request after having challenges to access it from the capital market due to worsening economic conditions.

He said the loan was to cover up the economic breakdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. After deliberations, the assembly unanimously agreed and approved the request, DailyTrust reports.