Youth groups in Niger State are divided over how the state government intends to utilise the N21.5bn Sukuk loan it applied for. While one of the youth groups accused the state government of skewing the utilisation of the fund in favour of one of the senatorial districts in the state, the other group rose in defence of the administration saying ” it has been fair to all the zones”. Apart from saying that the Sukuk loan was desirable to accelerate the infrastructural development of the state the “Niger State Coalition in Defence of Transformation” in a statement on Friday commended Governor Abubakar Sani Bello for sharing the projects equally among the three senatorial zones. Muhammed Muhammed who signed the statement said “a careful look at these shows an even spreading of projects across the three political zones of the state”. Apart from the Sukuk, Muhammad Muhammed praised the state government for seeking alternative source of funding of infrastructural projects in the entire state. He specifically mentioned the $266m IDB loan for the construction of the Bida- Minna road and the $330m Kuwait fund to construct the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Teaching hospital at Lapai.Â
