Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court (FHC) 6, Abuja has fixed
\nFriday, October 30, 2020, for the hearing of a suit challenging
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari from taking another loan of $29.96 billion.<\/p>\n
Justice Ayo Emmanuel of the FHC sitting in Osogbo, the Osun State
\ncapital, had in January transferred the case to the FHC, Abuja for trial
\nand determination since the majority of the defendants in the suit
\nresided in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).<\/p>\n
A human right lawyer and former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association
\n(NBA), Ilesa Branch, Bar. Kanmi Ajibola had approached the court to stop
\nPresident Buhari from borrowing an additional $29.96 billion.<\/p>\n
Besides, the lawyer who was in the court along Barristers Samuel
\nEcheonwu and Musa Abdullahi also asked the National Assembly from
\napproving the said loan pending the final determination of the suit.<\/p>\n
Ajibola on Monday instituted a legal action seeking the mandate of the
\ncourt to stop the National Assembly from approving the loan.<\/p>\n
The Senate had recently referred President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2016 \u2013
\n2018 External Borrowing Plan request to its Committee on Local and
\nForeign Debts.
\nThe Ministers of Finance, Zainab Ahmed had also declared that President
\nBuhari-led Federal Government cannot stop borrowing to finance projects.<\/p>\n
This is following the cry of many Nigerians who feel the current
\nadministration was already borrowing the future of the country.<\/p>\n
Barrister Ajibola in an action filed before the FHC, against the
\nrespondents including the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and
\nthe Minister of Finance said they were not acting in the interest of
\nNigeria.<\/p>\n
He argued that instead of developing the available resources in the
\ncountry, the respondents were only seeking procurement of destructive
\nloans.<\/p>\n
Ajibola in a 58 paragraph affidavit in support of his motion ex-parte
\ndisclosed that he had on the 16th day of December 2019, written letters
\nto the defendants requesting for some vital information but they failed
\nto respond within the constitutionally stipulated time.<\/p>\n
Some of the information demanded include details of Nigeria’s local and
\nforeign debt profiles and the defrayment modalities, the list of all the
\nFG projects being executed from the loans taken from 2015 to date, the
\nfinancial cost of all executed projects from 2015, and the total sum of
\nmoney recovered so far from the Late General Sani Abacha’s loot, if
\nspent and what it was spent on.<\/p>\n
Ajibola told the court that he requested the information to enable him
\nto take a step to rescue Nigeria, saying the Federal Government under
\nthe leadership of the respondents has failed Nigerians.<\/p>\n
According to him, with the new foreign loan procurement, the respondents
\nwanted to perpetually entrap Nigeria in a debt gulag and that they are
\nplanning to take the loan without putting in place an effective
\nall-encompassing corruption check mechanism.<\/p>\n
He further told the court that, “In 2016, the president presented a
\nprojected proposal for a foreign loan for 2016 to 2018 in the sum of
\n$29.96 billion to the Eight Senate for approval as required by the law,
\nbut the National Assembly rejected the proposal because it saw it as
\ndebt colonization by the would-be creditor banks, and it is capable of
\n‘sinking Nigeria into the dark gully of a perpetual debt trap.’<\/p>\n
“The 1st to 3rd respondents, among others, took oaths of office to
\ndischarge their duties to the best of their abilities, faithfully and in
\naccordance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and
\nthe law, and always in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity,
\nsolidarity, well-being, and prosperity of the Federal Republic of
\nNigeria.<\/p>\n
“It is the duty of the FG and the respondents to control the National
\nEconomy in such manner as it will secure the maximum welfare, freedom,
\nand happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and
\nequality of status and opportunity. The respondents have failed in this
\nduty.<\/p>\n
“The effect of taking a foreign loan for economic stimulus
\ninfrastructure in a very corrupt system as we have in Nigeria is always
\ncounterproductive, besides that, the debt servicing will grossly
\nsuppress the effect of such borrowings, this is too harmful to the
\neconomic growth of any country in the world.<\/p>\n
Ajibola expressed worry that both the President and that National
\nAssembly swore to provide good governance, but contrary to the oaths of
\noffice of the respondents, “they are not faithful to the said oaths”,
\nAjibola argued.<\/p>\n
When the matter came up for hearing on Friday, October 2, Justice Abang
\nnoted that in view of the importance of the suit, he continues its
\nhearing on October 30 while urging counsel in the matter to prepare
\nrelevant papers before the court.<\/p>\n
Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court (FHC) 6, Abuja has fixed Friday, October 30, 2020, for the hearing of a suit challenging President Muhammadu Buhari from taking another…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n