Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Thursday, criticised the decision of President Olusegun Obasanjo to spend $12 billion in its bid to clear the country’s $30 billion Paris Club and London Club of creditors’ debt back in 2005.
Speaking at a town hall meeting organised by Business Hallmark on the theme, “Nigeria’s infrastructure revolution; Road to a new future”, Fashola said he would have argued against it.
The Minister of Works and Housing said that was he a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) then he would have opposed the proposal.
At that time, Fashola insisted the repayment of the nation’s debt was not a priority for Nigeria when the decision was taken.
Chairman, Business Hallmark Public Policy Forum, Chief Marc Wabara; a former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, John Odigie-Oyegun; and Water Resources Minister, Suleiman Adamu also attended the event.
The former Governor of Lagos State said that with the country facing a huge infrastructure deficit at the time the loan was repaid, Obasanjo’s administration should have requested the rescheduling of the debt with its creditors.
He argued that if the $12bn cash that was paid to the creditors at that time was channelled into investment in infrastructure, Nigeria’s economy will not be where it was when the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari commenced in 2015.
He said: “Our government in 2005 as a matter of policy decided to go and pay the debt of $12bn cash but our house was in very dire need. That was a policy choice. I would have opposed that decision if I was in government because we needed to invest urgently at that time.
“If we had invested, the results of those investments would have earned us more revenues, much more income and will put us in a better position to service those debts. Fast forward to 2015, after paying $12bn, we are now owing $32bn.”
“We look for the resources, invest them in infrastructure and use the returns to pay back this loan.”
The Minister also said that the Federal Government under Buhari has taken infrastructure to be a priority.
In demonstrating this, he said the government is currently implementing 896 road and bridges contracts covering over 13,000 kilometres in all the states of the federation.
Also speaking at the event, the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) explained that the administration was confronted with huge infrastructure challenges when it took over in May 2015.
This, he stated was not good for a country that was in dire need of development and growth.
According to him, Federal Government was committed to addressing this gap, which was why it revised the Nigerian Integrated Infrastructure Masterplan.
Mustapha, who was the special guest on honour, disclosed that conscious of the economic disruption caused by the 2016 economic recession and COVID-19, as well as the challenges of previous reforms FG, revised its 23-year, 2020-2043 National Integrated Infrastructure Masterplan. According to the SGF, the infrastructure master plan identifies critical enablers with consisting microeconomic framework and realistic infrastructure investment plan. “For the 23-year period, $2.3 trillion will be required, translating to about $150 billion annually.
The private sector and other partners have agreed to provide 56 per cent, while the FG and state governments will provide 44 per cent of the shared investment to be dedicated for implementing the master plan,” he said.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
True! Consuming Rotten Tomatoes May Cause Liver Cancer
CLAIM: A Facebook user claims that the consumption of rotten tomatoes, popularly known as Esa in South-West Nigeria, can cause liver cancer.Fashola criticises Obasanjo’s decision to spend $12bn on external debt as president
Fashola criticises Obasanjo’s decision to spend $12bn on external debt as president