Why Anambra rejected World Bank loan, by Soludo

Osun gov, APC lock horns over $20m health grant

Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has disclosed that the state withdrew from the World Bank loan arrangement because it was “not a good deal” for its people.

This was as the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, in a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by Governor Ademola Adeleke, debunked alleged misappropriation of a $20m World Bank health grant against the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola.

Soludo made this revelation, yesterday, when the leadership of the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah’s political groups, along with some Nollywood practitioners, toured the ongoing construction of the Government House project in Awka North Local Council.

Addressing the groups, the governor noted Anambra as the only state in Nigeria to have opted out of the World Bank loan arrangement, adding that the decision was taken to avoid falling into debt.

He said, “The terms and conditions of the World Bank loans were not favourable to the people of Anambra, so we decided to pull out.

“When I assumed office as governor and reviewed the terms and conditions of those loans, I realised they were not in the best interest of our people. This is a bad deal for my people. However, one could say, ‘Let me collect the loans; after all, it is the next generation that will pay.’ I don’t have that kind of conscience. I felt the terms were a bad deal for Ndi Anambra, and I told them we did not need it.

“Late last year, they shared $438 million among 35 states in Nigeria, but Anambra was the only state that did not collect. We don’t need to continue mortgaging the state with such loans.”

Soludo stressed that while he required funds to execute government projects, he would not take loans that would burden the state’s future generations.

ADELEKE also accused the past governor of money laundering, financial misconduct and violation of the Public Procurement Act in the disbursement of the grant meant for health sector improvements in the state.

In the acknowledged copy of the petition dated March 7, Oyetola reportedly set up a committee during his tenure as governor that expended $20 million on renovating 320 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) across the state.

But Osun government’s lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, claimed the programme tagged ‘Save One Million Lives’ was a flagrant violation of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007, adding that Oyetola did not call for bidding as required under the PPA, let alone allowing competition, which would have afforded the state the best-qualified contractors to handle the projects.

Olajengbesi noted in the petition that the beneficiaries of the contract allegedly included businesses with no construction experience, such as food vendors, hair salon operators, supermarket owners and web designers.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, yesterday, Osun APC Media Director, Kola Olabisi, described the petition as a ruse by the governor, who he claimed had been seeking avenues to get even with the APC leaders in the state over his failure to retain his grip on the local councils.

Olabisi also slammed Adeleke and his legal team for trying ‘so hard’ to rubbish the image of his predecessor in the media.

According to the APC chieftain, the fund received by Oyetola’s government was comprehensively monitored by the donor. Midway through his speech, the APC media director brought some documents detailing what he said was how the funds were expended.