Assembly approves Ganduje’s request on N15bn loan

Kano State House of Assembly has approved Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje’s request for Local Government Councils in the state to access N15 billion loan for funding the state’s free and compulsory education programme.

WeThis followed the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Local Government presented at Wednesday’s plenary presided over by Speaker, Alhaji Abdulazeez Garba-Gafasa.

Presenting the report, the Chairman Alhaji Kabiru Hassan-Dashi said that the committee recommended approval of the request, adding that the fund would be used to construct more classes and rehabilitate old ones to reduce congestion.

Hassan-Dashi explained that the loan would also support provision of free uniforms to students and enhance the school feeding programme of the state government.

After series of deliberations, the House adopted the motion and approved the request.

The speaker had on Tuesday read a letter by the governor seeking for permission to allow the 44 local government councils in the state to access the loan from a new generation bank.

According to the letter, the decision to access the loan was to enable the local governments to ensure the success of the state government’s initiative of free and compulsory education.

The governor said that if the loan was approved, each of the 44 local government councils would receive N340 million to ensure sustainability of the free and compulsory education programme across the state.

He explained that the loan would be paid in 30 months with only 15 per cent interest as it would be deducted from the local governments’ monthly federal allocations.