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In the petition, titled, “A call for the urgent review of the proposed Chinese mono rail loan to Kano State Government,’ which was signed by its Chairman, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, the forum condemned Ganduje’s insistence on obtaining the loan from China Development Bank.
In a copy of the petition made available to journalists on Thursday, the group the loan was an invitation to enslavement and it vowed never to allow people of the state to be enslaved.
It stated, “Except for a few in the official circles, nobody else knows the terms and conditions of the loan agreement,” adding that “the exact amount being borrowed is shrouded in secrecy.
The first phase of the project costing over N300bn or may be even the N828bn mentioned by others, coming mostly from a foreign loan is mind-boggling, to say the least. A rethink is not only needed, but necessary.
“Based on the analysis of the present indebtedness of Kano State as provided by the Debt Management Office, it is extremely difficult, almost impossible for Kano State to sustain any indebtedness beyond the current liability portfolio of the state.”
The forum stated that a rail project was never a project that should be done in haste, adding that it was not a medium term project.
It said, “If indeed the Chinese want to genuinely help with cheap loans, they should be requested to support critical sectors such as education, health, agriculture, power, science and technology, infrastructure, industry and water supply.
The group said that the Kano Unity Forum would not give “any self-serving politician the latitude to increase poverty and deprivation within the general public through ill-conceived public works.
“We shall not be deluded by the attractive idea of good return from the investment. Rail projects world over are known as highly capital intensive with a very negligible rate of return on investment. It is more of a social welfare project, especially in less developed economies.
The forum, therefore, warned that if the state government insisted on going ahead with the project, “we will diligently pursue court processes and other lawful means to stop the light rail project.”
The group, therefore, called on the President “to intervene in order to save the state and its citizens from enslavement. “We also vow to ensure that the next administration in the state repudiates the agreement altogether and disregard any responsibility for whatever money the Chinese expended on this project. We must emphasise that the good people of Kano do not need this expensive white elephant project.’’
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