Mr
President please do not return to the Senate with the same request to borrow approximately
$30 Billion after it was rejected Tuesday.
First
let me commend your efforts yesterday in meeting with some Niger Delta Leaders
with a view to finding a solution to the problems in the region and to halt
blowing up of gas and oil pipelines by
N-D militants.
Mr
President that meeting was a step in the right direction hopefully should find
a solution soon.
With
respect to Senate turning down the $30 Billion loan request, which accords with
the views of Mr Falana SAN and other public interest litigators that borrowing
would jeopardize the future generation.
Mr
President ask the frontline human rights Lawyer Falana to see you in Aso Rock chambers
with his position paper ASAP. He is saying from the Premium Times report read this
morning 2nd Nov that Nigeria has some $11 Billion (add interest over
years) in the hands of Banks which AMCON
failed to recover.
He
said he also wrote to your Finance Minister on tracing/recovery
of billions of dollars abroad belonging to our country Nigeria on steps
to repatriate these funds without conditionalities. He enthused that
World Bank, Swiss Bank etc must not keep recovered loots a day longer
than
today. In the interest of our national development you may please call
him to
discuss this matter, moving forward.
Call
him now!
Thank
you
Attorney
Carol Ajie
PREMIUM TIMES 2ND NOV
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has
challenged the Nigerian government to take the rejection of the $30 billon
(N9.61 trillion) loan request by the Senate as a challenge to review the
recovery of the nation’s looted wealth.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Falana said
the decision of the Senate to turn down the borrowing plan should spur
investigation into the criminal diversion of billions of dollars from the
Federation Account.
The Senate on Tuesday rejected Mr. Buhari’s
request to borrow $29.9 billion as part of its external borrowing plan for 2016
to 2018, asking for all relevant documents to be submitted.
“A few months ago, I had urged the Minister
of Finance to embark on an aggressive recovery policy,” said Mr. Falana, a Senior
Advocate of Nigeria.
“Apart from acknowledging the letter and
assuring me that the letter was receiving attention no measure has been put in
place to recover the looted wealth of the nation.
“In frustration I was compelled to submit a
petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to recover the fund
and prosecute the indicted individuals and corporate organisations.”
Mr. Falana said his petition led to a former
Central Bank governor demanding an apology for saying that he gave out a loan
of $7 billion to 14 banks sometime in 2006.
“Since he admitted that the money was a
‘deposit’ and not a loan I rejected his demand for apology,” he said.
“More so that the $7
billion and the bailout of $4 billion given to the same banks in 2008 have not
been refunded.
“Curiously, the Asset
Management Corporation of Nigeria has not demanded the repayment of the said
sum of $11 billion from the banks.”
The Senate’s
rejection came despite the support of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office for an
approval of the loan to help address the huge infrastructure deficit across the
country.
But Mr. Falana
insisted that if efforts were intensified to recover the billions of dollars
looted or diverted from the Federation Account, the government would not need
to plunge the nation into “another toxic debt”.
“I have also just
confirmed that one of telecommunication companies operating in the country
recently engaged in money laundering and successfully but illegally transferred
the sum of over $25 billion out of Nigeria,” Mr. Falana said.
“Since the Money
Laundering Act, 2011, as amended, requires that the entire proceeds of the
crime be forfeited to the Federal Government, it is hoped that the highly
placed public individuals involved in the criminal enterprise will not compromise
the interests of the nation this time around.”
|
No comments:
Post a Comment