Kaduna: Concerns mount over disbursement of El-Rufai’s $350m World Bank loan

Nasir

Not few stakeholders in Kaduna State have continued to voice out their concerns over the alleged uneven disbursement of the $350m World Bank loan secured by the immediate past administration of the state under the leadership of ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai.

Said to be most hit by the alleged injustice occasioned by the uneven disbursement of the loan are 12 local government areas in the state.

These council areas have been identified to be left in the lurch, years after the much-touted Urban Renewal Road projects initiated by the immediate past administration of ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai took off.

Arewa PUNCH investigations revealed that despite the continued repayment of the $350 million World Bank loan secured under El-Rufai’s government, not a single kilometre of road has been said to have been completed in the affected LGAs, some of which are among the poorest in the state.

Field investigations and corroborated testimonies from community leaders and government insiders point to widespread neglect in areas such as Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Ikara, Jaba, Kagarko, Kajuru, Kauru, Kudan, Makarfi, Sanga, Soba, and Zangon Kataf.

Arewa PUNCH sources further alleged that the projects in these LGAs either never took off beyond the flag-off stage or were outrightly abandoned shortly after the groundbreaking ceremonies.

Unimpressed by the outcome of the situation, several civil society groups and opposition lawmakers in the state have raised concerns over the opaque manner in which the loan was managed, especially in relation to equitable distribution of infrastructure.

Comrade Phelimon Andrew, a transparency advocate based in Zango-Kataf, called for a legislative audit of the Urban Renewal Programme.

“We can’t keep taking loans for political PR. The communities have the right to know where every dollar went,” he said.