By Wole Mosadomi

Immediate past Secretary to the Niger State Government, Alhaji Saidu Kpaki has described report that the past administration secured N2.9 billon loan and his office received N600 million on the eve of it departure as untrue, baseless and a figment of the imagination of its author.

Kpaki in a statement by his media assistant, Musa Bologi said the past administration neither approached any financial institution for loan nor secured any in the last minute as alleged by the present administration.

He wondered how the new government didn’t know of a Federal Government circular which placed embargo on granting of loans to states, emphasizing that Governor Abubakar Bello’s spokesman must have made the allegation out of ignorance.

The former scribe said the fact that the All Progressives Congress, APC, government was not able to produce the list of the purported beneficiaries of the loan went to show that the government was only out to blackmail the immediate past administration.

On the allegation of N600 million given to the SSG’s office, Kapki said there was no way such money could have been given to his office at that time when the state was battling to pay workers’ salaries.

“Even though there was shortfall in allocation from the Federal Government since last year, the past government ensured it paid salaries by 25th of every month as was the tradition of the Mu’azu Aliyu administration.