The Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, on Monday confirmed the recent trip of the forum to Islamic Republic of Saudi Arabia to seek a loan from the Islamic Development Bank, saying it was facilitated by the Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance.The forum came under criticism after some northern governors, led by Shettima, travelled to Jedda recently to seek a loan from the IDB.
But Shettima, who is the Borno State governor, in a statement by his spokesman, Mallam Isa Gusau, said comments credited to the Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign and Domestic Debts, Senator Shehu Sani, labelling the action of the northern governors as unlawful “was unfortunate and out of ignorance.”
The statement read, “(Comments credited to Sani that) efforts by the Forum to obtain loans from the Islamic Development Bank in Jedda was an illegality. It was purely based on a lack of the slightest knowledge about the issue, because unlike what the very respectable Senator thinks, the IDB trip itself was not just done with the consent and approval of the Federal Ministry of Finance but rather, it was even the Federal Ministry of Finance that facilitated the trip and they had a representative as part of the delegation.
“Governors of the northern states cannot just jet out to Saudi Arabia to solicit or collect loans without following due process and the law further states that state governments and their agencies wishing to obtain external loans shall obtain the Federal Government’s approval in principle from the Federal Ministry of Finance.”
Shettima said Sani would not have criticised the governors for embarking on the trip if he had contacted the Ministry of Finance or the forum.
The governor added, “The Northern States Governors’ Forum has the highest regard for the institution of the Senate and its 109 senators. It is therefore not the intention of the forum to take issue with one of its very own — the scholarly Comrade, Senator Shehu Sani, Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign and Domestic Debts.”
