Contrary to often-mouthed claim by his predecessor of bequeathing N3.7 billion for the new government, Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, yesterday, insisted that he inherited N42 billion debt with an empty treasury.
This was as the transition committee set up by Governor Masari had earlier told newsmen while submitting its report that it had uncovered a debt of N42 billion, an allegation the spokesman of the former governor vehemently denied.
But speaking in Kafur yesterday, during a grand reception organised in his honour, Governor Masari said the Shema-led administration left behind an empty treasury with huge debts.
He noted that the debt included N6.2 billion as gratuity for local government staff and N3.2 billion as gratuity for state civil servants, noting, “In two years, five months, the sum of N11 billion was stolen from the coffers of local governments”.
He said his administration would ensure it fulfils all the campaign promises made so as to restore the lost glory of the state, assuring that his government would be guided solely by what the people want.
Masari said he had dispatched a team to visit all primary schools and health centres in the state to assess their true state before concerted efforts would be made to put things in proper perspectives.
The governor, who lauded the people of his native Kafur for the reception, said arrangements had been concluded to empower 60 female and 40 male from each of the political ward in the state as part of an aggressive economic empowerment programme.
In a brief speech he delivered at the event, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Oyegun, said the reception heralded the change that Governor Masari would bring for the state, adding that, “We know the level of thievery and misgovernance that took place in Katsina State but salvation is here as Governor Masari will salvage the state”.
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