By Ismail Auwal
A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has restrained Kano state government from borrowing N300 billions from China for a light rail project, pending the determination of the case filed before it.
The judge, S. I Mark, ordered the maintenance of a status quo pending the hearing of the matter.
The interim injunction showed that a civil society organization called Center for Awareness on Justice and Accountability (CAJA) has filed an ex-parte motion asking the court to stop the Kano State Government, the Senate President, Kano State House of Assembly, Central Bank of Nigeria, Debt Management Office, China Exim Bank, and China Embassy from effecting the N300 billions loan transaction.
In an interview with Sahelian Times, the Executive Director of CAJA said that the Kano State government has refused to heed their call to abandon the move of obtaining huge and unsustainable loan from China for a white elephant project.
Dakata said, “We did not succeed in convincing the government from taking the loan, and that is why we rushed to the court to challenge the borrowing.”
He also noted that the process which the state government is following to obtain the loan is full of irregularities.
He further added that the loan will only be a liability, which several generations to come will find difficult to bear.
“After a careful reading of the motion we submitted, the court has agreed that we have a stake on the issue, and it has ordered that the Kano state government should appear before it and explain why our demands cannot be met,” he added.
It will be recalled that Kano state government has sought for 300 billions naira loan from China Exim Bank to finance a light rail project. However, the move was opposed by several groups in the state, including a petition sent to the Debt Management Office by a concerned group led by Alh Bashir Tofa.
