N135b Debt  Allegedly Sparks Off Controversy Amongst Factional APC in Jigawa

An alleged N135 billion debt said to have been incurred by the administration of Governor Umar Namadi in 2025 has generated a heated debate in between the two functional rivalry’s of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Jigawa State.

The controversy was triggered by a social media post from a former Senior Special Assistant to Governor Danmodi on Health Monitoring, Malam Zakari Sidi Kafin-Hausa, which trend on his official Facebook page that the state had accumulated “over N134 billion” loans within the year.

According to him, “When you include the over ₦40 billion loan that was taken about nine months ago, the total debt Jigawa has incurred in this year 2025 has reached over ₦134 billion.”

Sidi in a telephone conversation with Trustbase news On-line further stated that the figure “exceeds the amount projected to be borrowed in this year’s budget by more than ₦5 billion.”

Sidi warned that the matter should not be trivialised, saying some individuals may attempt to politicise the issue for their own selfish motives or benefits. “The truth is that a time will come when we will regret keeping silent about this unwholesome trend, he avered.

But in a swift reactions the Special Assistant to Governor Umar Namadi, Malam Umar Suleiman Kafin-Hausa countered the allegations as “baseless, misleading, aimed to dented the Governor’s personal reputations, as it lacks an iota of truth just to bring unusual confusion.

He insisted that the Jigawa State Government had not taken any new loan from Zenith Bank, clarifying that what the State House of Assembly approved “is not a loan, nor is it borrowing.”

According to him, “It is simply an approval for the process of receiving the state’s share of revenue due to it from the Federal Government through the Gas Delivery Company (Gas Revenue Share).”

He stressed that the Federal Government, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would pay the money in full, adding that the arrangement was only designed to ensure early access to funds, not to burden the state with debts.

Suleiman further argued that several states — including Kaduna, Ekiti, and Niger — had used similar financial arrangements to access their gas revenue shares through commercial banks.

“Therefore, what Jigawa has done is the same lawful arrangement many organised states have been using same allocated fund’s, adding There is nothing hidden or suspicious about it,” he said.

The disagreement continues to fuel political tension within the Jigawa APC, with supporters from both factions intensifying debates across social media platforms.