The Kaduna House of Assembly Committee which probed the alleged corruption, financial irregularities, loans, grants, and project implementation from 2015 to 2023 during the administration of former Governor Nasir El-Rufai submitted its report on Wednesday.
The chairman of the ad hoc committee, Henry Zacharia, who presented the report during plenary on Wednesday, implicated the former Governor and recommended that he should be probed.
The report accused El-Rufai and his commissioners of abuse of office, awarding contracts without due process, diverting public funds, money laundering, and excessive borrowing which left the state heavily indebted.
It was recommended that El-Rufai and some of his officials indicted by the House Committee,be further investigated by security operatives and anti-graft agencies.
While urging for a thorough investigation of key officials who served in the El-Rufai administration, the House Committee sought for the immediate suspension of the Kaduna State Commissioner of Finance, Shizer Badda, and the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board.
It also criticized the excessive borrowing during El-Rufai’s tenure, which has plunged Kaduna State into heavy debt.
Receiving the report, the Speaker of the Kaduna House of Assembly, Yusuf Liman, said a total N423 billion was siphoned by the El-Rufai’s administration while leaving the state with huge liabilities.
The Committee was constituted following a report by Governor Ubah Sani that his administration was finding it difficult to pay workers’ salaries because of the repayment of the State’ huge debts.
The Governor said the administration inherited $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities from the administration of El-Rufai.
Sani lamented that due to the rise in the exchange rate, the State is now paying back almost triple what was borrowed by the previous administration.
