Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), claimed to have registered 37 microfinance banks (MFBs) in Kano state when he was the governor of the state.
Kwankwaso made this claim while speaking on Channels TV election special programme, The Verdict, on February 10, 2023.
Speaking about the naira redesign policy, Kwankwaso said the policymakers did not prepare the groundwork for the implementation of this naira swap.
The former governor of Kano said when he was introducing e-payments in Kano state, he registered 37 microfinance banks in towns, villages, and cities in Kano state
“We registered 37 microfinance banks in Kano, just to prepare for e-payment in Kano state,” he said, stating that the idea is not to punish the people but to ensure the right thing is done.
How true is his claim?
On January 13, 2013, Vanguard newspaper, amongst other news agencies, reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) granted a license to the Kano State Government to establish 37 microfinance banks.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the CBN governor at the time, had attended the inauguration of the banks and commended the Kano State Government for making history as the first state in Nigeria to be granted the CBN license to inaugurate 37 microfinance banks at a stretch.
CDD Election War Room also checked the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) official website, which keeps a record of all the microfinance banks in all states in Nigeria including Kano state. We found that the state indeed has more than 40 MFBs
Data on the CBN website, showing the list of MFBs at the end of Kwankwaso’s tenure as governor also shows Kano state indeed has more than 40 microfinance banks.
Verdict
The claim that the Kwankwaso-led administration established 37 microfinance banks in Kano is true.
