Falana --There’s Evil In Buhari’s Loan Application

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has noted that there is inherent evil in the proposed $29.9 billion President Muhammadu Buhari seeks to borrow.

According to him, at the end of the day, only 50% of the amount will arrive Nigeria with generations suffering to repay it.

Vehemently opposing the move to obtain the loan, Falana called on President Buhari to instead concentrate efforts on recovering Nigeria’s trapped $200billion to fund his programmes.

The Senior Advocate also counseled the President to channel recovered loots towards addressing the growing economic hardship in the country.

Falana stated this while speaking at the 4th Convocation Lecture of Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, Ile Ife, adding that he had written to that effect to the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun.

Continuing Falana called on government to recover the looted wealth of the nation and prosecute the culprits without considering their party affiliation.

He further called for the investigation of payment and servicing of debts, insisting that most of the loans that gave rise to them were diverted by public officers.

Falana said: “Curiously, the Buhari administration has failed to address capital flight and round tripping by financial institutions, otherwise why has the government been reluctant to ask EFCC to recover and sanction the oil and shipping companies which under declared the crude oil worth billion of dollars shipped from Nigeria,under the Jonathan administration?

“Why has the Federal Government failed to recover the $20.2 billion withheld from the Federation Account by the NNPC and some oil companies from 1999-2012?

“Why has the Federal Government not inquired into the allegation that the sum of $25.4 billion was laundered and illegally taken out of Nigeria by a telecommunication company?

“Why has the government failed to recover the looted wealth of the nation which has been traced to financial institutions in the west and the United Arab Emirates?”

“Why has the CBN failed to recover the $7 billion deposit and N600 billion bailout given to the commercial banks in 2006 and 2008 respectively? Instead of intensifying efforts to recover such huge funds among several others,the government is determined to take a loan of $29.6billion”, he lamented.
By Timothy Enietan-Matthews…