By Disun Amosun
The House of Representatives Tuesday in plenary rescinded its earlier decision on the 2016-2018 Federal Government External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan as approved by both chambers of the National Assembly.
The external Borrowing plan, then put at a sum at 22.79 billion US Dollars under the period’s medium term external borrowing plan was meant for the Nigerian Railway Modernization Project (Kaduna-Kano Segment)
In his lead debate, Rep Abubakar Fatula who raised the issue submitted that the rescission on the project’s main financier was necessitated by the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic which adversely affected implementation of agreements entered into by that period, due mainly to ban on traveling, especially as the loan agreement was between Nigeria and China.
Rep Fatula recalled that to secure funds for the project, the contractor CCCECC Nig Ltd in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Transport engaged China Development Bank (CDB) as the financier in the sum of nine hundred and seventy-three billion, four hundred and seventy-four million, not be hundred and seventy-four thousand and thirty-eight Us dollars only,
After listening to the main mover of the motion, the House then acceded to rescind its earlier decision on the financier and harmonized terms and approve the change from China Exim Bank to China Development Bank.
Other relevant approved conditions provided in the harmonized terms include 15 years for maturity of the rail project, execution currency to be in Euro with interest rate on the loan put at 2.7%.
