BUHARI BLOWS HOT, FINALLY BARS OBASANJO FROM ASO ROCK

President Muhammadu Buhari, has finally dumped ex-President, Olusegun Obasanjo’s advice, to halt the plan to $29.9 billion. Recall, that Obasanjo, had few weeks ago in a scathing remark, called on the President, to shelve the thought of borrowing $29.9 billion, to fund capital projects across the States.

The former President, had asked Buhari to stay off the loan, saying that it would mortgage the nation’s future. “I believe that going for a huge loan under any guise, is inadvisable, and it will amount to going the line of soft option, which will come to haunt us in future.

“We immediately need loans to stabilise our foreign reserve, and embark on some infrastructure development, but surely not $30 billion, over a period of less than three years,’’ Obasanjo had said. However, latest report revealed that Buhari has decided to ignore calls that he should shelve plans to borrow $29.9 billion, and has distanced himself from the ex-President.

A source said:  “We are going ahead with the loans, but we will allay the fears of ex-President Obasanjo with necessary documents on the sources and plans.“I think the ex-President needs some details. We are certainly going to engage Obasanjo. We will not take issues with him in the media.

“It is to the credit of Obasanjo, that he secured debt reliefs for the nation. We want him to realize that we are not out to pile up fresh debts for the nation. “These loans are coming from some liberal creditors, including the World Bank, Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), and China EximBank.

“What Nigerians do not know, is that we had many offers, but were careful in selecting our loan facilitators. “For instance, the Buhari administration rejected loan offers from the International Monetary Funds (IMF), because of Nigerians’ attitude to the international agency for such a bail out in 1990.

“Yet out of the $29.9 billion loans, the Federal Government’s share is $25.8 billion, while the States will enjoy $4.1 billion facility.” The source added:  “There is no way we can even implement 2017 budget without the loans. We are in dire straits. We need some breather to revive the economy.

“It is not physical cash as being assumed. All the institutions will be involved in the management of the loans to ensure judicious use. “And for a prudent government like that of Buhari, there is 100 percent assurance that the loans will not be mismanaged, unlike the case in the past.”

Responding to a question, the highly-placed source added: “The government has mandated the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to engage the ex-President on the indices behind obtaining the loans. Our hands are tied, because of lack of funds to implement laudable projects.


“The Minister will then return with a feedback from the ex-President on how we can manage the loans better. Fortunately for Buhari, the Minister is more or less a “goddaughter” of Obasanjo. “Whatever is the communication gap, we will use the engagement with Obasanjo to clear the air”.