Jigawa in N29bn debt-trap... Findings reveal , commercial banks suspend business with govt
From ISMA’ILA MUHAMMAD, Dutse

COMMERCIAL banks in Dutse, Jigawa state have resolved to suspend indefinitely, any financial transaction with the state government.
Investigations conducted by Daily Triumph revealed that the state government is owing several commercial banks in the state huge amounts of money running into several billions of Naira, secured at different periods as soft; hard loans and advances.
It was gathered that most of those debts were incurred purposely for special projects in recent years, but are yet to be settled, a situation which compeled the banks to suspend any further financial transaction with the state government in the last one and half year.
Further investigation revealed that this unwholesome attitude of the state government had caused the delay in payment of staff salaries last month, indicating that the state may have gone bankrupt.
The source added that these same bank debts and other external debts secured by the state government amounting to over N29 billion are now awaiting clearance.
Some of the affected bank managers interviewed raised alarm that failure to settle most of these debts on the part of the state government will cause them their jobs, since they have been threatened with sack letters by their respective managements.
Speaking in the same vein, Malam Shehu Dutse, chairman, Dutse Development Association, decried the non-challant attitude of Governor Ibrahim Saminu Turaki for incurring huge debts on the state government without the masses of the state benefiting from same.
According to him, over N29 billion debts administration to the state is an accumulated burden for incoming government to settle, since most of these debts are unnecessary for lack of substance in terms of provision of social amenities to the people nor have they arrested the scourge of unprecedented poverty ravaging the average man in the state.
The chairman who stated that Governor Turaki had received more than N300 billion in the last seven years as subvention from the federation account, cannot however, boast of N10 billion capital project across the state.
All efforts by our correspondent to reach any official of the state ministry of finance for comment on this sensitive issue proved abortive.