KADUNA State borrowed $343 million and N37.43 billion in 8 years of former Governor Nasir El-Rufai stewardship, Economy Post has found.
On March 30 2023, current Governor Uba Sani said he inherited a huge debt from his predecessor on May 29, 2023.
According to Mr Sani, his administration inherited a total of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contract liabilities from the ex-governor, noting that the state was struggling to pay salaries.
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“Despite the huge debt burden of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities sadly inherited from the previous administration, we remain resolute in steering Kaduna State towards progress and sustainable development.
“We have conducted a thorough assessment of our situation and are sharpening our focus accordingly. It gladdens my heart to inform you that despite the huge inherited debt of the state, till date, we have not borrowed a single kobo.”

Former Governor Nasir El-Rufai (left) and Governor Uba Sani
This has elicited reactions from various quarters. Former governor’s son, Mr Bashir El-Rufai, described Mr Sani as “incompetent” and said the governor was only trying to mask his inability to deliver.
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“These guys have realised that they are wholly incompetent and the only way to mask the nonsense is to deflect. From a Governor that is always sleeping in Abuja to a litany of incompetent aides that were only rewarded for foolish political reasons.
“One would think that from all the FAAC allocations these unserious clowns have changed to dollars, debt would be the least of their problems,” he said.
Former Kaduna senator and El-Rufai’s arch enemy, Mr Shehu Sani, wrote: “Mr Elrufai, retired Governor now back to ‘blogging on Twitter’ while waiting for political appointment from Tinubu, after working for Amaechi and surreptitiously dropping negative stories. You left a huge debt profile for our Children and grand Children in Kaduna State to pay AND YOU claimed that you NEVER STOLE from the coffers of Kaduna. One of your stooge even claimed that you are poorer now.I dare you to make public your assets by publishing the content of the form you submitted at the Code of Conduct Bureau,both the one of 2015 and that of 2023.”
But what do data say regarding Kaduna State’s debt?
What data say
Even though Mr Sani inherited N87.282 billion (not N85 billion as quoted), Mr El-Rufai was not responsible for the whole debt.
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Data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) show that Kaduna State’s total domestic debt as at June 30, 2023 – one month after Mr El-Rufai’s exit – was N87.282 billion. As at December 2015 when the DMO published states’ fiscal statuses, Kaduna State’s total domestic debt stood at N49.848 billion. Mr El-Rufai became governor on May 29, 2015.
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This means that Mr El-Rufai borrowed N37.434 billion from domestic sources in 8 years.
On the external debt front, Mr El-Rufai met a debt of $226.368 million in 2015 but left a debt of $569.376 million in May 2023. By implication, Mr El-Rufai borrowed $343 million in external debt in his 8 years of stewardship.
Understanding context
The Kaduna State debt figures are currently being misinterpreted. A lot of Nigerians have assumed that El-Rufai borrowed all the money quoted by Mr Sani, which is a misrepresentation of facts.
An Abuja-based finance expert, Mr Tolu Ogundele, said it was important to always contextualise numbers to avoid public misinterpretation.
“If you say you inherited a debt, always state how much your predecessor borrowed and how much they left. The general public is not always that enlightened when it comes to data, and there is a danger that politicians could turn your data into a score-settling platform.
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“For example, Governor Sani should have done that due diligence to avoid misinterpretation, but it seems there is more to that than meets the eye. Data should be interpreted in context.
If you look at the national debt, for instance, you may think that President Bola Tinubu has borrowed so much. However, when you understand that the public debt incorporates states’ debts and debts by Tinubu’s predecessors, you will understand where the issues are.”