Presidency replies Emir of Kano after he berated the Federal government for seeking $30bn loan

Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, on Friday berated the President Buhari-led government for seeking to borrow $30 billion from International financial institutions. At a policy dialogue forum organised by Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development in Abuja, the Emir stated that nobody in the International community will borrow Nigeria such an amount of money.

According to him, the poor state of our economy will not make any lender take Nigeria serious, adding that even if the National Assembly eventually grants the request for Nigeria to borrow such a loan, no global financial institution will offer such a loan to Nigeria.

“I can tell you for free, if the Senate today approves that we can borrow $30 billion, honestly, no one will lend us. It should be approved and I will like to see how you will go to the international market with an economy that has five exchange rates. There is one rate for petroleum marketers, there is Interbank rate, there is another for money market operators such as western union, money gram, there is bureau de change rate and there is a special rate you get when you call the CBN for a transaction. So who will borrow you when they don’t know your exact reserve and exchange rate? I want to see who will borrow you money when the Niger Delta bombing of oil is there ‎when the main source of the loan repayment is oil”he said

However in a swift reaction to the Emir of Kano's comment, Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Shehu Garba, in a statement released today, said the monarch does not have his facts right regarding the state of the economy. Garba's statement below

"With every respect to the Emir, you know he is my ruler, because I come from Kano. He doesn't have his facts as far as those issues are concerned. The issue in CBN, that government has overdrawn its Central Consolidated Account is true, but the overdrawing is within limits. The overdraw does not exceed 1.5 trillion. It is incorrect to say, as he did that the account was overdrawn by 4.5 trillion. But even assuming that he was correct. This is a government that has money in excess the amount he mentioned in the Treasury Single Account, TSA. It is just like you, a bank customer operating two accounts, one in the red and the other, well funded to the point that it can at any time wipe the indebtedness on the other. Would any bank manager lose their sleep over this? This, I am told is what the IMF found at the CBN and they said it is perfectly normal. As for his opposition to the USD 30 billion loan, I'm aware that the Minister of Finance is responding to that. As a private citizen, I want to read his statement again. I thought that the borrowing is for projects that include the railway development in Kano, his own city".