A civil society organisation, Policy Alert, has asked Nigeria’s Fiscal Responsibility Commission to investigate what it called “spurious” loans acquired by the Akwa Ibom State Government.
The group, which says it is committed to promoting economic and ecological justice in the Niger Delta states, said the move became necessary because the loans “were obtained without due process and in breach of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and the Akwa Ibom State Fiscal Responsibility Law 2020.”
It further explained that the call was in line with the provisions of Section 2(1b) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (2007), which stipulates that the commission shall have powers to cause an investigation into whether any person has violated any provision of the Act.
The call came on the heels of the approval by the state Assembly, last Monday, of the Governor’s request to access a N150bn “financial instrument” either through “promissory note discounting” or “direct credit substitute.”
The organisation in a statement on Monday by its Programme Officer, Fiscal Reforms and Anti-Corruption, Faith Paulinus, observed that “the proposed N150bn facility would be the latest in a string of spurious loans that have been acquired by the state government in recent times.”
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