The House of Representatives approved the Federal Government’s request to borrow $973,474,971.38 from China Development Bank on Tuesday. This approval follows China Exim Bank’s withdrawal from an earlier agreement to grant Nigeria a loan of $22,798,446,773, which had previously been approved by the National Assembly. Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Abubakar Fulata, moved a motion to amend the resolution that had granted approval to the failed commercial deal. The motion, titled “Rescission of the 2016–2018 Federal Government External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan,” noted that the plan had been approved by the Senate on 5 March 2020 and by the House on 2 June 2020, and that the National Assembly had approved the $22.8 billion sum only under that plan. Fulata explained that the Federal Ministry of Finance had sought modifications to the financing proposal for the Nigerian Railway Modernisation Project (Kaduna–Kano segment) after the COVID‑19 pandemic caused China Exim Bank to withdraw its support. To secure funds, the contractor (CCECC Nigeria Limited), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Transportation, engaged China Development Bank as the new financier for $973,474,971.38. Fulata prayed that the House rescind its decision on the original financier and approve the change to China Development Bank. The motion was unanimously adopted.
The House also approved the terms of the new loan: the segment covered is Kaduna–Zaria–Kano; the financier is China Development Bank; the loan is commercial, with a 15‑year maturity, denominated in euros; the interest rate is 2.7 % + 6‑month Euribor; the commitment fee is 0.4 %; and the upfront fee is 0.5 %.
Nicholas Ossai, Chairman of the House Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements, raised concerns after Fulata’s motion. He noted that the executive had failed to present details of Nigeria’s commercial agreements with other countries to the National Assembly. Switching from China Exim Bank to China Development Bank, he argued, creates a new agreement that members of the House have not seen. Ossai urged Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed to bring the agreements with China Development Bank before the Assembly so that members could be fully informed before approving the loan conditions. He suggested that the motion be withdrawn until the relevant agreements were forwarded.
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila countered that the substantive committees, particularly the Committee on Transport, had already examined the details. Ossai maintained that, as an external loan involving an international commercial agreement, the matter fell under his committee’s jurisdiction. He said he had written to the Chairman of the Committee on Aids and Loans and to the Minister of Finance on the issue. Gbajabiamila asked the chairmen of the Committees on Transport and Aids and Loans to see him after the session, then put the motion to a voice vote, which was unanimously adopted.
The House has remained silent on allegations that the Federal Government abandoned an investigation into commercial agreements and external borrowings, which the Ossai‑led committee described as containing “dangerous” clauses. The committee has yet to submit its report on the probe that began in 2020. Former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, on 16 June 2021, thanked Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Speaker Gbajabiamila for halting the investigation. In an interview on Channels Television’s “Politics Today,” Amaechi claimed the probe had discouraged China from extending further loans to Nigeria, citing delays in the Ibadan‑Kano railway project and expressing gratitude to the Senate President and Speaker for intervening.
In a separate development on Tuesday, the House approved an extension of the implementation period for the capital component of the 2022 Appropriation Act, moving the deadline from 31 March to 30 June 2023. The Executive had previously requested an extension of the Federal Government budget’s lifespan from 31 December to 31 March, which the National Assembly approved in December 2022.
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