Kaduna — Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo did not loot the treasury of Kaduna State and those peddling rumours to the contrary were not being fair to him, Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa has said.

Responding to questions during an interactive session with members of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Kaduna yesterday, Governor Yakowa said there was nothing like that.

For sometime now in Kaduna, there had been speculations that the former governor who is now the vice president, on the eve of his elevation to his present status allegedly looted the treasury.

"I am not going to allow all those things going round to distract me. The vice president did not loot the treasury of the state before he left. We only embarked on so many projects for the benefit of the people of the state but there was nothing like looting," he stated.

He said his government was the continuation of the Sambo administration and pledged to consolidate and implement policies and projects he initiated.

He said he decided to take a N15 billion bond from the capital market to enable him complete the Government House, Zaria water works, a 300 bed hospital, the state university and the 4th Kaduna Bridge.

"All these projects when completed would go a long way in enhancing the standard of living of our people. They would also assist in addressing the problem of traffic congestion along River Kaduna Bridge. This is why we went to the capital market and nothing more," he said.

Governor Yakowa said he decided to give financial autonomy to the local governments to enable council chairmen embark on projects that have direct bearing on their areas. He said he would embark on a local government tour after Sallah to see for himself the level of development in the 23 local government areas of the state.

On what the state government was doing to secure the release of Dr. Ahmad Gumi who was arrested in Saudi Arabia over his alleged connection with the December Detroit suspected bomber, Farouk Abdulmutalab, he said shortly before the commencement of Ramadan fasting he led a delegation from the state to the Presidency but that the case has diplomatic implications.

"At the mandate of the state executive council, we wrote a letter to the Federal Government and after that I led a delegation of the state with the Emir of Zazzau, Dr. Shehu Idris, to the Presidency because we want him to be released so that he can deliver his Ramadan Tafsir. The issue has some diplomatic implications but the Federal Government is addressing it squarely," he added.

On zoning as it affects Kaduna State, he said, "the 19 northern governors and the national executive of our great party, the PDP, have all come to recognise the fact that zoning is enshrined in the constitution of the PDP and they also recognise the fact that Mr. President as a sitting president has constitutional right to contest for the presidency of this country. The situation in Kaduna is not different from what is happening at the national level as far as I am concerned."