ABUJA — The immediate past Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, has denied that the China-EximBank loan for the rehabilitation
of the Lagos-Kano rail line was
diverted as alleged by the Permanent Secretary
of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Alhaji Muhanned Bashar.
Okonjo-Iweala
Alhaji Bashar had told President
Muhammadu Buhari during the ministry’s briefing session, last week, that only
$400 million of the $ 1 billion China-EximBank loan meant for the project was
spent, creating the impression that over $600 million was diverted by the last
administration.
According to him, only $400 million
was released by the Ministry of Finance for the project.
However, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said,
yesterday, that the Permanent Secretary did not get his facts right, as there
was no such $1 billion China-EximBank loan for the Lagos-Kano rail project, in
the first place.
She gave details of the
China-EximBank loans for various projects in the country through a statement by
her Media Adviser, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, and insisted that the Lagos-Kano rail
project was not one of them.
According to the minister, a total
of $2.084 billion was secured from the Chinese bank and that the facilities
were being managed directly by the bank which disburses the funds directly to
the Chinese contractors, based on certificates of work done.
The breakdown
The breakdown showed that $500
million was for the on-going expansion of four international airport terminals
in Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port-Harcourt.; $500 million for the Abuja Light Rail
Project; $984 million for the Zungeru hydroelectric power project; and $100
million for the Galaxy Backbone project.
The statement read in part: “I want
to state categorically that there is no truth in the reported allegation.
Anyone who is interested can cross-check with the China-EximBank or the Chinese
Embassy.
“It is noteworthy that even though
President Buhari, in his reported comments on the allegation, made no reference
to Dr. Okonjo-Iweala but rightly stressed the need for due process and
transparency in the execution of public projects, a sponsored media campaign
has once again been launched by political elements to make the former minister
the culprit in a non-existent scandal.
“The alleged diversion has no
substance for the simple reason that the Kano-Lagos project was not even among
the projects presented for funding by the China Exim Bank for several strategic
infrastructural projects across the country.
“In fact, it was the Lagos-Ibadan
rail project, not Lagos-Kano rail project, that was proposed in the original
application to the China-EximBank. But in the end, no funds were assigned for
the Lagos-Ibadan rail project by the China-EximBank.
“It is also important to note that
even if the alleged project was on the list of China-EximBank funded projects,
diversion of any Chinese funds would have been extremely difficult because the
terms of the contract and the processes would simply not have permitted such
action.
“The procedure is that funds for
approved loans remain in the China-EximBank and are released directly to the
Chinese firm executing the contract only after the presentation of duly
certified proof of work by the responsible ministry, in this case it would have
been the Federal Ministry of Transport, based on the agreed milestones.
“For the sake of emphasis, the China-EximBank
does not disburse money directly to government and, therefore, the issue of
diversion does not arise.
“This is yet another example of the
kind of whispering campaign of calumny, innuendo, misinformation, and outright
distortions being perpetrated by certain political elements against Dr.
Okonjo-Iweala in a bid to try to damage her reputation.”
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