By lteef Adegbite
The Ahmad Lawan, led Senate, appears to have been divided, over the frivolous external borrowing by President Muhammadu Buhari, a army General, to run and finance, basic , infrastructural facilities of the government.
Ali Ndume, a Senator of Federal Republic of Nigeria, may have shown that the Senate has been polarized when he expressed his unhappiness at the speed at which the National Assembly, which has Ahmad Lawan as the Senate President and Femi Gbajabiamila, as the House. Speaker, are handling ‘’the issue of debt and external borrowing requests by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Katsina state born Nigerian President.
The Borno state born politician and outspoken Senator, is not happy with ‘’the increasing borrowing by the Nigerian President to run his government and execute projects initiated by the Administration. Only recently, Buhari had requested the Lawan, led Senate to give approval for external loans in the total sum of $4,054,476,863 billion.
This is in addition to a 171 million euro, and a grant component of $125 million. He had said that the external borrowing requests to the Senate that ‘’ are necessary ‘’for emerging needs and to fund some other projects’’ of his government.
Ndume, who incidentally is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Army, and who repeatedly had cautioned the retired army General granting amnesty to the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHaram and the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP, Insurgents, had said that ’’the failure of the Lawmakers to take a closer look at the Presidency loan proposals before approving them’’ speaks volume.
According to him the Buhari led APC, government’’ is not borrowing for productivity but borrowing for Consumption’’, which Peter Obi, a former Anambra state governor and Vice Presidential Candidate of the Opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has described as the worst form of Corruption , the world-over.
The Borno state radical Lawmaker who could no hide his feelings had said that that borrowing may not really be a crime, but ‘’when the rate of debt services increases’’ as it was said to have gone up to the 80% and 90% mark, over the last five the six years in Nigeria, the government ought to have been cautious and look for an alternative sources of funding of its generating revenue and funding it critical projects instead of plunging the country into more horrible debts
This is an indications that the Buhari Administration have not been cautious in in its external borrowing or ready to seek for alternative sources of funding its critical capital projects across the country. Recall that last July, the National Assembly,the National Assembly had given approval to Buari’s requests for the 2018-2020, external borrowing rolling plan of $8.3 billion and 490 euros.The retired army General may have told those that cars to listen that’’ ‘’the loans are necessary for emerging needs and to fund some other critical projects’’.
The Leadership of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, may have shocked Nigerians when it said that the Buhari Administration s borrowing ‘’to address the country’s Infrastructure deficit which in turn, should stimulate the economy’’.’’. Furthermore, the party had justified the external borrowings by insisting that ‘’it will create job opportunities for the teeming unemployed in the country and strengthen the country’s Agricultural sector’’.
Accusing the Opposition, the PDP, of putting the country in the present economic mess for the sixteen years, it had ruled, which the APC, government is working round the clock to fix, the party noted that it should to bury its head in shame for being poor manager of the county’s resources.
Obi, a business mogul had said that the ‘’Buhari Administration is borrowing for the wrong reasons’’ as it is not channeled to productive activities that would enhance lives of the citizens and enrich the economy’’.
His major worry was that Buhari has dragged the nation into ‘’the debt trap’’ as the country is now servicing various countries and multilateral Financial Institutions including the World Bank, WB, owed over $80 billion, with 80% to 90%of the country’s budget.
Not many people are surprised that Lawan , the senate President, is in full support of ‘’the government borrowing spree’’. The Senate President had repeatedly said that the government has no other option than do so instead of’’over taxing Nigerians, who are already poor, to fund infrastructure’’ .He may have gone back on his words never to be frivolously supporting and approving loans proposals, for the Executive arm of government as it had approved two external borrowing requests of the Nigerian President in two weeks alone. Even promises made to Nigerians that the Executive arm of government requests for loans would pass through proper scrutiny to ensure that they were necessary have not been followed religiously .
Many believe that the present National Assembly Leadership, cannot in anyway challenge any of Buhari’s external borrowings requests because was instrumental to their emergence to the Leadership of the National Assembly by ensuring that the likes of Bukola Saraki, a former governor of Kwara state, who manourvered his way to become the Senate President in his first term in office was not re-elected to avoid stampeding him in fulfilling his electioneering Campaign promises to the people. The 8th Senate under the close watch of Saraki, were said to have turned down all his requests to borrow from the World Bank and other multilateral Financial Institutions, around the globe.
It was not surprising why he has taken advantage of the APC, domination of the Senate and the House, in this his second term in office to ensure that the Executive proposals to borrow from these multi-lateral Financial Institutions and other friendly and richer nations were approved. This may have informed why he has got all his loans request s approved without proper scrutiny by the Lawmakers, even when the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, are growing.
I n a related development, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, under Godwin Emefiele, which has been hard with the Banks, Micro-Finance Banks, MFBs and the Bureau de Change, BDC, operators over the sales of Forex both at the Foreign Exchange and the Black market to customers to save the naira, has told those clamouring for a review of the BDC, policy to forget it. An aggrieved Emefiele, the CBN, governor, has told those that cares to listen that the Apex Bank ‘’will no longer sell dollars and other hard currencies ‘’to people who use it to purchase arms to hurt Nigerians.
He may have alluded to the BDC, who purchase Forex from the official market but sell to sponsors of the Islamic Fundamentalist Group and the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP Insurgents including the Bandits, operating in the north west states of Zamfara, Kaduna and Katsina, Buhari, home stat, to buy arms and other militants across the country. He may have also sent a message to the Abokis, who sell Forex, on the roadside, described as an illegal market’’ in major cities across the country that the Financial Regulator, would soon come after them to sanitise the market.’’. He urged Nigerians to stop supporting illegal Forex trade, noting that in the city of London, United Kingdom,UK, nobody talks about the BDCs, let alone sell dollars to them in the market.
Emefiele , who may have been forced to speak out because of the continued devaluation of the naira, had said ’We have supported the activities of those who are illegally selling Forex from these illegal marke, carry them in aircraft out of the country and go to buy arms and ammunition and bring them into the country to commit Crimes’’.
For the big men , mostly top government Functionaries and those in the oil sector, who sell their unused estacode, to the Abokis, may have watch it. The game is up as the CBN, governor, has signal ‘’to shut down the operations of Aboki FX , over its posting of exchange rates on the website, thus making nonsense of the government Monetary policies.
Describing the Aboki’s FX website, as an illegal Platform, the aggrieved CBN, governor, has vowed to deploy the Bank officials, with the Collaboration of security agencies personnel, to arrest and prosecute the owner of the Platform., one Segun Onwinde. Accusing him of sabotaging the economy, he was said to said to have instructed the Ape Bank experts to go after the the Oniwinde FX Platform as a lesson to others.
The CBN governor may have resorted to the use of force to get the owner of the Aboki’s Platform, because of the several attempts that had been made in past to get the owner of the Aboki FX, in order to to engage him for talks to understand his module, his basis for doing so and he came about advertising those rates but no luck.
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The Buhari Administration between 2019 and now, have borrowed $80 million from Multilateral Financial Institutions, but it appears not have made any appreciable impact on the economy because of the loopholes that had been exploited by the illegal FX, dealers to sabotage the government efforts.
Oniwinde, the Aboki FX platform owner for advertising exchange rates may have known that the CB, is after him, that he has underground. But Emefiele, has vowed that they will ‘’ pursue him to his hideout’’, stating that he they will get him and report him to INTERPOL. His anger remains that the BDC Operators were encouraging kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism through the sale of Forex.
Reacting from his London base over the CBN allegations against him, he stated that the ABOKI fx, IS NOT A Trading company but a currency research Company.He was said to have shut down the Platform on the orders of the Apex Ban so that the value of the naira can improve in the Forex market but nothing appears to have not changed as the value of the country’s currency has continued to go down because of the high demand for dollar and other major world currencies for their business transactions.
The fear being expressed in both official and unofficial quarters is that the manhunt for Oniwinde, the owner of the ABOKI Platform, advertising exchange rates, may lead to panic buying of the dollar, euro and pound sterlings, in both the official and unofficial , that further lead to the devaluation of the naira. This is may have informed why they have informed the CBN governor to apply cauion in the search for the Aboki Platform owner, whose sponsors, may be too ummerous to count, both within and out outside the country.
