- PDP opposes borrowing plan
- Three tiers of govt, private sector to fund reconstruction of N’East
- Buhari renews Kale’s appointment as statistician-general
Details of the federal government’s
$29.96 billion External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan for 2016-2018 have
revealed that 61.2 per cent of the foreign loans have been earmarked for
bankable infrastructure projects while social programmes in health and
education, the federal government’s budget support facility, agriculture
and the Eurobond issue account for the balance.
Also, of the $29.96 billion to be
borrowed, the federal government will take up 86.3 per cent of total
borrowings, or $25.8 billion, while the 36 states of the federation and
the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will account for the balance of $4.1
billion.
Other than the planned Eurobond, five multilateral institutions are expected to provide the $29.96 billion.
They are the World Bank, African
Development Bank (AfDB), Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA),
Islamic Development Bank and China EximBank.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday
presented the plan to the National Assembly for approval to enable his
administration borrow, in order to address the funding gap over the next
three years.
However, the decision by government to
raise $29.96 billion from foreign sources has not gone down well with
the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has asked the
federal government for a breakdown of what it intends to spend the funds
on.
It also called on the All Progressives
Party-led government to be transparent with what it has done with
“recovered looted funds”.
A breakdown of the external borrowing
plan exclusively obtained by THISDAY from the Ministry of Finance showed
that of the $29.96, 61.2 per cent would go towards infrastructure
projects comprising the Mambila hydro-electric power plant – $4.8
billion; railway modernisation coastal project (Calabar-Port
Harcourt-Onne Deep Seaport segment) – $3.5 billion; Abuja mass rail
transit project (Phase 2) – $1.6 billion; Lagos-Kano railway
modernisation project (Lagos-Ibadan segment double track) – $1.3
billion; Lagos-Kano railway modernisation project (Kano-Kaduna segment
double track) – $1.1 billion; and others – $6 billion.
Other than funds to be assigned to
infrastructure projects, the federal government also intends to raise
$4.5 billion through a Eurobond issue, but the document from the finance
ministry was silent on what the funds raised from the issue will used
for.
The federal government also intends to
borrow $3.5 billion from foreign sources for budget support over the
next three years. The document also showed that $2.2 billion will be
dedicated to social projects in the health and education sectors, $1.2
billion in agriculture, while $200 million has been set aside for
economic management and statistics.
Of the $2.2 billion assigned to social
projects, the federal government will account for the bulk of the
projects amounting to $2.1 billion while the states will account for a
measly $100 million.
In the area of agriculture, the federal
government will account for 75 per cent of the funds borrowed, or $900
million, while states will be expected to borrow $300 million.
THISDAY investigations further revealed
that the planned Eurobond issue at the international capital market is
the only commercial source of funding being targeted by government, as
others are concessionary loans with low interest rates and long tenors.
In another development, the Minister of
Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, wednesday told the visiting Director,
African Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr. Abebe
Aemro Selassie that the federal government was leaving no stone unturned
in its bid to make infrastructure development a priority.
Taking the visiting IMF chief through
some of the initiatives of the current administration, the minister
assured her host that the Muhammadu Buhari administration was doing
everything to make Nigeria productive in every aspect.
This, she said, would be achieved by
shifting emphasis to the development of infrastructure, which had been
neglected by previous administrations.
According to her, with a population of
about 180 million people, Nigeria has no choice but to be productive,
saying this can only be achieved through infrastructure.
She recalled that “the allocation for
capital projects in the 2015 budget was just 10 per cent while the
recurrent was 90 per cent which had been the case in the past six to
seven years”.
PDP Opposes Borrowing Plan
The PDP, however, has expressed its
opposition to the plan by the federal government to borrow $29.96
billion over the next three years.
The party, in a statement wednesday by
its spokesman, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye said its attention had been drawn to a
letter submitted by the president to the National Assembly seeking
approval for external borrowing of $29.96 billion, and the virement of
N180 billion appropriated for the special intervention programmes to
funding of “critical recurrent and capital items”.
“We totally disagree with the APC-led
federal government on this latest move and call on President Muhammed
Buhari to first and foremost explain to Nigerians what his
administration has done with the so called recovered looted funds and
how far the 2016 budget is fairing.
“Also, President Buhari must itemise
what he intends to finance with this proposed borrowing of almost $30
billion instead of lumping it up in a coded term and plunging the
nation’s future into debts.
“More so, this approach cannot be the
preferred solution to the economic quagmire which this government
created due to ineptitude,” the opposition party said.
PDP noted that the federal government had budgeted N6.07 trillion for the 2016 fiscal year with deficit of N2.22 trillion.
It added that, N1.8 trillion was
budgeted for capital expenditure and Buhari was now seeking to borrow
over N9 trillion ($29.96 billion) for “critical infrastructure”.
“This is absurd and way outside the
government’s budgetary provisions for capital expenditure and must be
rejected by all well-meaning Nigerians.
“Nigerians will recall that the Minister
of Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in June 2016
made public, through a press statement, an account of recovered looted
funds between May 2015 to May 2016 amounting to N78.3 billion, $185.1
million, £3.5 million, and €11.25 million in cash; while others were
under interim forfeiture.
“What happened to the recovered funds?
Or are these the same funds the EFCC and DSS are planting in the houses
of opposition figures and justices instead of channeling them into the
economy?
“In addition, the Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu recently
confirmed our position when he stated that the commission has recovered
more money in eight months than it recovered in 12 years.
“Nigerians need to know how much revenue
the government has been able to generate from crude oil, non-oil and
independent revenue sources since assumption of office from May 2015 to
September 2016.
“This clarification will boost the
confidence of Nigerians in the management of their resources, especially
in this period of recession before thinking of engaging in external
borrowing.
“There is no gain saying that the APC
led-federal government has left no stone unturned in castigating the
PDP’s 16 years as wasted even with its obvious achievements, one of
which was getting reprieve from the Paris Club of creditors.
“The APC led-federal government is again
taking Nigeria back to 2005 when the external debt burden derailed the
growth of the Nigeria economy and weakened the GDP before the total
cancellation of her debts.
“This proposed action of the APC
government will be a great injustice to the citizens of this country now
and in the future if they are plunged back into debt.
“Let us state unequivocally that history
will not forgive this APC government and its collaborators if they
allow this injustice and mal-administration of our economy and citizens
to stand.
“We therefore call on the National
Assembly to reject this anti-people request by an anti-people government
that has no genuine interest in the growth and development of the
people of this country.
“We again call on all Nigerians to speak
with one voice and stop President Buhari from further destroying our
great nation, Nigeria and by extension, Africa,” it said.
In his letter on the borrowing plan,
Buhari had indicated that some of the funds from the external borrowing
plan would be deployed to emergency projects in the North-east,
particularly following the recent outbreak of polio after the de-listing
of Nigeria from polio endemic countries.
The World Bank has provided a loan of
$125 million for the federal government to procure vaccines and other
ancillary facilities to stop the polio outbreak, and also provided $450
million to assist in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the
North-east, the president disclosed.
The entire projects for the North-east,
according to the president’s letter, are: polio eradication support and
routine immunisation ($125 million), community and social development
projects ($75 million), Nigeria States and Health Programme Investment
Project ($125 million), State Education Programme Investment Project
($100 million), Nigeria Youth Employment and Social Support Project
($100 million), and Fadama III Project ($50 million).
FG, States, LGAs to Fund N’East
In addition to funds to be sourced from
foreign sources, Buhari yesterday said that the Presidential Committee
on the North-east Initiative (PINE) set up by him to oversee the
humanitarian crisis in the region, as well as resettlement and
reconstruction in the states affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, will
be funded through federal, state and local government appropriations
and funds from the private sector.
Buhari disclosed this at the State House, Abuja, when he inaugurated the committee.
The devastation to human lives and
livelihoods by the insurgency in the North-east has been severe, with
more than an estimated 20,000 persons killed, 2.4 million persons
displaced and billions of naira worth of personal and public assets
destroyed.
The president said many humanitarian
intervention efforts, national and international, had worked over time
to assist in coping with the task of bringing succour to internally
displaced persons (IDPs) in and outside the region.
He said the need for coordination informed the creation of the PINE.
He added: “To this end, I have
established the Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative
under the chairmanship of General T.Y. Danjuma, a man of proven
integrity, outstanding patriotism and dedication.
“He will lead this committee comprising members who have been carefully chosen from a wide spectrum of stakeholders.
“The committee will be the apex
coordinating body for all interventions in the region, including those
by the public, private, national and international development partners.
“The committee is domiciled in the
presidency and is charged with the responsibility of developing the
strategy and implementation framework for rebuilding the North-east
region.
“The committee would not exist in
perpetuity or isolation. Rather, it will exist for a period of three
years, where after it is envisaged that a long-term regional development
framework or entity may be established.”
In his remarks, Danjuma said that in
line with the terms of reference of PINE, the committee had developed
the Buhari Plan: An Implementation Framework.
According to him, the interventions
contained in the Buhari Plan have been designed for targeted, integrated
interventions by the federal and state governments, with support from
international development partners, local charities, the Nigerian and
international business communities, as well as other donors.
He said: “This key character of the plan
ensures leveraging of all existing capacities and making maximum use of
limited resources.”
He said that implementation, oversight and accountability of the plan would be provided directly from the presidency.
Danjuma, however, disclosed that only half of the funds pledged to the committee had been redeemed.
He therefore called on everyone to key
into the strategic coordination framework of PINE – the Buhari Plan –
and make contributions to its implementation.
He said: “It is therefore expected that
all interventions, especially the federal ministries, departments and
agencies, the state governments, NGOs, international partners, the
private sector and individuals, will align their contributions to the
aspirations of the Buhari Plan.”
Danjuma acknowledged that rebuilding the North-east would be resource intensive and could not be done overnight.
“But it is a task that must be done in the overall interest of our nation,” he added.
Yemi Kale’s Tenure Extended
Meanwhile, the president has approved
the re-appointment of Dr. Yemi Kale as the Statistician-General of the
Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS), for another term of five years.
His reappointment was conveyed in a
statement issued by Akpandem James, the media adviser to the Minister of
Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma.
He was first appointed in August 2011 for an initial five-year term.
Before his elevation to his present office, he was the Special Adviser to the then Minister of National Planning.
Kale obtained his undergraduate degree
from Addis Ababa University and a doctorate from the London School of
Economics & Political Science.
He has served on several presidential
committees and advisory bodies and is an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy
School of Government Leadership in Government programmes.
BREAKDOWN OF $29.96BN EXTERNAL BORROWING PLAN
· Mambila Hydro-Electric Power Project – $4.8 billion
· Railway Modernisation Coastal Project (Calabar-Port Harcourt-Onne Deep Seaport segment) – $3.5 billion
· Abuja Mass Rail Transit Project (Phase 2) – $1.6 billion
· Lagos-Kano Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan segment double track) – $1.3 billion
· Lagos-Kano Railway Modernisation Project (Kano-Kaduna segment double track) – $1.1 billion
· Others – $6 billion
· Eurobond – $4.5 billion
· FG Budget Support – $3.5 billion
· Social (Education & Health) – $2.2 billion
· Agriculture – $1.2 billion
· Economic Management & Statistics – $200 million
FG’s share – $25.8 billion; States – $4.1 billion
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