The Niger State Government has asked former Governor Babangida Aliyu to refund N2.9 billion.

In a statement, the Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Ibrahim Dooba, said the money was taken as loan on the eve of Mr. Aliyu’s departure.

Mr. Dooba said although the new administration of Governor Abubakar Bello would not witch-hunt any past leader, “but the misappropriated money belongs to the people”.

“They took this loan on the eve of their departure. And as was customary with that administration, they did nothing with the money.

“You can’t collect a loan on behalf of the people and share it among yourselves. That’s literally what they did. They simply raised a list and allocated money to those on the list.

”The office of the SSG for example, was given N600 million. The records did not say what he would do with the money. Well, we want our money back. The money belongs to the people,” Mr. Dooda said.

He said the present administration had prioritised the needs of the people, stressing that such looted but recovered funds would be expended on projects.

”Our people need food, shelter, security, roads, water and so forth. For example, the governor wants to start with the provision of potable water and in the coming weeks, we’ll provide water at predictable intervals to Nigerlites.

“On the problem of electricity, we have started an arrangement to rent a power plant from overseas to provide regular electricity before a permanent solution is found.

“Also, Minna-Kataeregi road, Kontagora-Tegina, Minna-Suleja, Bakeko-Katcha, Kaffin-koro, Kuta-Sabon Gari and Maitumbi-Maikunkele roads among others, are receiving urgent attention”, Mr. Dooda said.

Mr. Aliyu has denied the allegations.

His spokesperson, Israel Ebije, told PREMIUM TIMES the claims are “definitely not true”.

“Let the current administration present proof of their allegation. It is definitely not true,” he said.

“Truly, there was cash crunch at the end of the last administration, but it is surely not possible for anyone to grand such facility to an exiting government.

“All that Governor Aliyu was doing while in office is in public domain and he is ready and available for any form of probe they are willing to subject his administration to.

“They should just focus on doing what they said they would do to the people. The former governor also met some debt and cleared some, while also providing development to the people,” Mr. Ebije said.