Jang denies leaving N104billion debt

IMMEDIATE past Governor of Plateau State and Senator-elect Jonah David Jang, has denied a story making the rounds that he left the state with a debt profile of N104 billion.

A statement issued yesterday by Jang’s Special Assistant/Media Aide Clinton Garuba, said while it is true that in the handover notes given to the new administration, the debt profile was made available to newsmen, “it must be pointed out that the Jang administration did not borrow N104 billion as it is being insinuated in some quarters.”

Governor Simon Bako Lalong, while holding a stakeholders’ meeting on Tuesday had disclosed that he met an empty treasury with over N104 billion as debt.

However, according to the statement by Garuba, “The immediate past government only borrowed an external debt of about N18 billion with evidence of several developmental projects to show for it. The balance of the said N104 billion spreads across contractual agreements for ongoing projects and those approved but not yet mobilised, outstanding of six months salaries of civil servants.

“Dr. Jonah David Jang is committed to the development of Plateau State beyond individualism and party affiliations and has therefore committed to work with the Lalong administration in the task of moving Plateau forward to take its place of pride in the comity of states in Nigeria.