Skip to main content

EXTERNAL BORROWINGS: REPS SUMMONS AMAECH, PANTAMI, OTHERS FOR SCRUTINY

 By: Agosu Omoleye

The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.

Also summoned by the lawmakers are the Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman; and the Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha, over external borrowings made by Nigeria, especially from China.

This is just as the Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements asked the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to appear before it again on August 17.

The committee, which is investigating Nigeria’s foreign loans, when Amaechi  appeared before it on July 28, raised the alarm that the agreement signed with China might force Nigeria to cede its sovereignty to the Asian country.

But the minister advised the lawmakers against the probe, saying it could make China to withhold the loan, thus thwarting rail projects that would be financed with the money.

On Wednesday, a lawmaker, who spoke condition of anonymity, disclosed to one of our correspondents  that more top officials of the Federal Government had been invited by the panel.

The source said, “As of now, it is not only the minister (Amaechi) that is going to come, the minister of finance will come. The Director-General  of the DMO (Debt Management Office will come. The communications minister is coming. The minister of power is also coming. This is because the loans are not limited to transport.”

 

When asked about the specific loans the House planned to scrutinise, the lawmaker said, “Our focus is on all loans taken Nigerian government from China. That is what we are looking at for now. All this noise about the $500m (loan), the case is even bigger. The $500m loan taken 10 years ago, Nigeria has not even paid back the principal money.  We are just servicing (interest). When are we going to start paying back?”

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ENCOURAGING THE AFRICAN START-UP ECOSYSTEM THROUGH TECH INNOVATIONS

Hon. Elvis Obi-Nwankwo, Special Adviser to Enugu state Governor on Innovation, Science and Technology. By: Agosu 'Tayo Once again, the administration of Enugu State has demonstrated the resolve to ensure that capacity building especially in the areas of Intellectual and entrepreneurial capacity building is given utmost priority while ensuring that the Nation continually remains relevant in the global scheme of things especially as it has to do with ICT, Block-chain Technology and other innovations while encouraging the sustenance of the startup ecosystem. In his Keynote address, the Special Adviser to the Enugu State Governor on Innovation, Science and Technology Hon. Elvis Obi-Nwankwo made it known while giving his key-note address at an event in Eko hotel Lagos state made it known the current administration in Enugu do everything possible to remain the Trailblazers in the Tech space of the country while extending their frontiers from South-East Nigeria to Germany and other parts ...
2 comments
Read more

OYO ASSEMBLY HOLDS SPECIAL SESSION FOR FORMER GOVERNOR

By: Teni Aluko The Oyo state house of Assemby today held a special sitting in honour of the former governor of Oyo state Senator Abiola Ajimobi who left for the great beyond exactly week ago.  Abiola Ajimobi was the Oyo state governor between 2011-2019. He worked meritoriously and recorded quite a lot of landmarks during his tenure. Ajimobi was appointed Deputy National chairman South of the All progressives Congress before he died last week Thursday. The Speaker of the House of Assembly Rt Hon Debo Ogundoyin in his speech said the late governor was able to change the political landscape of the State through his three points agenda of Restoration, Transformation and Repositioning. ”He also  made his impact in governance, he greatly improved the environmental sanitation of the state especially in the Capital City of Ibadan.” Other lawmakers who spoke at the special sitting described Ajimobi as a great man whose immense contribution to the development of the state cannot be easi...
Post a Comment
Read more

ADELOVE: BUILDING THE NOLLYWOOD INDUSTRY 24 YEARS AFTER

There’s probably no known acting Dynasty in today’s Nollywood as the Adeyemi ‘Adelove’ Afolayan Dynasty. Some prominent actors and pioneers of the Nigerian movie industry that passed on will always be remembered but the Adelove legacy will always be a mark of reference as his children keep flying the flag of their late father. The Adelove dynasty has made the Nation proud in various fora across the globe. Before the death of the Patriarch in 1996 as a result of complications of stroke, the Adelove family have been acting and till date they have kept his memories alive in the heart of his fans especially the older ones of his generation. This has confirmed the Yoruba saying that ” Ti ina ba ku, afi eru boju, ti ogede, ba ku, afi Omo e ropo’ meaning, ” when a fire dies it covers itself with its ashes and when a banana tree dies, it sprout forth another one.” They have been representing the name of, Adeyemi ‘Adelove’ Afolayan in various ways in Nollywood. Meet the children and sister of A...
Post a Comment
Read more