By Kayode Sanni-Arewa.
The House of Representatives has mandated its Committees on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements, and on Legislative Compliance to investigate the allegation of Execution of Slave Agreement between Nigerian Miniseries, Departments and Agencies with Chinese State.
The House has given the directives sequel to the presentation of a motion in the floor by Hon. Ahmed Yusuf Doro seeking the House to investigate the alleged execution of slave agreement between Nigeria and the Federal Republic of China.
The House notes that, the Nigeria’s Federal and State Governments have constitutional and statutory powers to obtain loans from local and foreign creditors, but must adhere to processes and controls for fiscal, financial, and
economic stability;
Also notes that foreign loans must meet External and Domestic Borrowing Guidelines for Federal, State Governments, and Federal Capital Territory and their Agencies as a prerequisite;
Aware that Paragraph 2.2 (vii) of the Guidelines provides that all external loans must have approval in the Annual Budget of the Federation before they are obtained;
Also aware that the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Debt Management Office, and other government institutions have developed interest in obtaining loans from Chinese State entities and have increased Nigerian debt exposure to China;
Further notes that a careful review of the loans with these Chinese entities, indicates that the loans are one sided, the terms are onerous and vexatious, and they are tantamount to slave agreements;
The House has observed that, the relevant public servants and civil servants charged with the responsibility for exercising due diligence before these loans are signed are always in a hurry and do not scrutinize these loans. As a result, Nigeria has executed loans that create significant hardship for Nigeria
Also, it observed that the terms specified in these slave agreements can never be met and fulfilled by Nigeria, hence, the agreements were designed originally with the intention to fail and put Nigeria at risk. Especially the risk of national embarrassment and the potential for seizures of Nigeria’s national and international assets;
The House has expressed concern that, there is a need for an investigation and thorough review of the terms of these slave agreements and to quantify the risks, threats, and dangers associated with them, in order for pro-active steps
to be taken to prevent another repeat of the P&lD scandal and to prevent a situation where Nigeria’s sovereign assets will be threatened both home and abroad.
The House has mandated the Committees to investigate the said allegations and report back to it within four (4) weeks for further legislative action.