By Ahmad Muhammad
The Kwankwasiyya Movement has kicked against the alleged plan by the Kano State Government to force all 44 Local Government Councils to take a combined loan of about ₦55 billion from a commercial bank.
In a press statement issued on Saturday by its Spokesperson, Dr. Habibu Sale Mohammed, the movement said each local government would be made to incur about ₦1.3 billion in debt.
According to the statement, the money is earmarked for Computer-Based Testing centres costing ₦632.57 million per LGA, an unnamed project gulping ₦500 million per LGA, and an empowerment programme of ₦117.41 million per LGA.
The movement said the proposal, if executed, would mortgage the finances of grassroots councils and violate the principle of local government autonomy.
It recalled the Supreme Court’s July 2024 judgment which affirmed financial independence for local governments, insisting that councils must not be turned into mere signatories for debts they do not control.
“Why should 44 local government councils be compelled to assume substantial debt obligations for projects reportedly to be administered by the State Government, rather than being allowed to exercise independent judgment over their financial priorities?” the group asked.
The Kwankwasiyya Movement questioned the timing of the loan, coming at a time when political activities are gathering momentum ahead of the next election cycle.
It challenged the state government to publish its revenue position, debt profile and justification for imposing fresh debt on councils that already struggle to fund basic services.
The group stressed that while it was not alleging that the loan was meant for election financing, the timing requires strict safeguards to prevent diversion to partisan activities.
It also raised alarm over the secrecy surrounding the projects, particularly the ₦500 million per LGA component which has no name, location or bill of quantities.
The movement demanded full disclosure of where the CBT centres will be located, who conducted feasibility studies, why each centre should cost over ₦630 million, and how beneficiaries of the empowerment fund will be selected.
It further called for a comprehensive audit of the previous joint women empowerment programme funded by local governments, asking how much each council contributed, how much was disbursed, what was spent on administration, and why the programme died after less than ten months.
The statement called on the Kano State House of Assembly to disclose whether it has approved the loan and to publish its resolution, insisting that proper legislative scrutiny of cost, repayment and legality must be shown.
It also appealed to the commercial bank involved to carry out rigorous due diligence, warning that public sector lending comes with legal and reputational risks, and that any future government would have the right to review the transaction if irregularities are found.
The movement urged Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s administration, the Assembly and local government chairmen to protect public interest, insisting that borrowing must be transparent and developmental, not politically motivated.