Don’t tarnish my image, Yuguda tells Bauchi gov

THE immediate past governor of Bauchi State, Malam Isa Yuguda, has advised the governor of the state, Muhammed Abubakar, not to tarnish the good image of his administration, urging him to focus on the task ahead of him.

The former governor, who said he left the state without an overdrawn account or an overdraft, pointed out that most state governors had billions in overdraft left for their successor “and the one who doesn’t have, is playing to the gallery.”

A statement from Yuguda’s media team at the weekend said Abubakar should be grateful that the former governor restructured all loans to make them easy for the state to repay without going brok e.

Yuguda further clarified that during his administration, the state raised a N15 billion bond. Seven billion naira was used for repayment of previous loans and the balance was used for the completion of the mega specialist hospital and the airport.

He said: “Today, Bauchi is not owing any bank at all. It is owing N14 billion for gratuities and contractors are owed about N1.4 billion.

“Others include the World Bank $50 million educational intervention loan and it was got on merit. It’s a 25-year facility. Only Anambra, Ekiti and Bauchi qualified from Nigeria. There is a $70 million water intervention fund by the World Bank with a 30-year tenor that the state has not drawn on at all.

“In addition, there was an N8 billion overdraft we inherited from the previous administration to be repaid over eight years. We restructured and liquidated 97 per cent of that loan.”

Yuguda, who advised the new governor to stop throwing stones and face the work of developing the state, said the information of the state’s debt status were contained in the handover notes which were duly signed by Abubakar.

“They should concentrate on the 17 brand new hospitals opened, rehabilitated schools, specialist hospital, university and other projects commissioned.

“It appears they’re not properly educated and equipped on how to run a government. They should look for ways to continue from where the past administration stopped instead of looking for excuses,” he added.