CSO Urges FG Not to Disburse $800m W’Bank Post Petrol Subsidy Removal Facility

*Says country can’t afford another loan amid current debt crisis

James Emejo in Abuja

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), has queried the World Bank’s $800 million facility to the federal government as a palliative to cushion the effect of the proposed fuel subsidy removal by June, which has now been reportedly put on hold.

Though the facility has been approved for the country by the World Bank, it is yet to disbursed because it still requires the approval of the National Assembly before any disbursement.

The Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani, in a statement issued over the weekend, lamented the, “nonchalant attitude displayed by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration towards the country’s crippling debt crisis.”

He said that borrowing to fund such palliatives was particularly strange, noting that, “if the fuel subsidy removal process has been suspended as announced by the Minister of Finance after the NEC meeting at the end of April, then the government should return the borrowed money because what are we taking the loan for?”

He said Nigerians were already worried that the country could have retained the $800 million loan from the World Bank even though the original purpose for which it was acquired had been suspended for the time being.
Musa-Rafsanjani said the development became particularly worrisome given that the country’s revenue collection in 2022 stood at N10 trillion with a debt of about N77 trillion.

He added, “In 2022, Nigeria paid about N7 trillion in fuel subsidy and in 2023, from January to June, when the country intends to stop paying, the subsidy is N3.6 trillion.

“So, if we are paying such whopping amount of money when subsidy is removed, we should have enough savings instead of taking additional loans, we can use the subsidy funds for post fuel subsidy removal.

“As a matter of fact, we don’t need to borrow. What we need to do is to cut waste. Just recently, we all saw the aviation minister announced that he bought 10 fire-fighting trucks for over N12 billion. Is this what we are borrowing to spend on?”.
He maintained that the country was already in another debt trap, adding that records from both national and international financial and debt institutions regarding Nigeria’s debt revealed a state in crisis.

He also called on the country’s financial watch-dogs to pay attention to all public spendings which have not followed adequate procurement process.
The CISLAC boss said, “We read that the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy announced the approval of N24.2 billion to provide internet facilities at airports and some institutions amongst other places.

“These are the things we are spending on few weeks before the end of this administration and this is unacceptable.
He also condemned the reckless spending during the end of the present administration, only few weeks to its exit, stressing that “It’s totally unnecessary and it’s a clear sign of diversion of public funds for personal interest and not for the overall good of the country.”

He added, “What’s the need for acquiring fighter trucks towards the end of an administration? A position you have held for over eight years but you find no need to acquire the trucks until the end. This is a clear sign of contracts scams that doesn’t follow due process and public interest. It is simply a financial recklessness.
“And Nigeria as a nation that is so swamped up in debts; we can’t afford that right now because where’s the public interest in that elephant project?”