SAN FRANCISCO, June 10, (THEWILL) – The Niger State Government has directed the immediate past governor, Mr. Babangida Mu’azu Aliyu, to refund N2.9 billion to the state’s treasury, accusing the governor of illegally approving the sum to himself and members of his government as loan on the eve of his departure from office.
A statement by Dr. Ibrahim Dooba, the Chief Press Secretary to the current State Governor, Mr. Abubakar Bello, said the administration’s directive to the former governor was not out of with-hunt but that the “misappropriated money belongs to the people.”
“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. That’s literally what they did. They simply raised a list and allocated money to those on the list.
”The office of the SSG for example, was given N600 million. The records did not say what he would do with the money. Well, we want our money back. The money belongs to the people”, the statement said.
