Transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi, has appealed to the National Assembly to stop the probe of the 500 million dollars loan from the Chinese government.
Amaechi said this during an investigative hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Treaties and Protocols on Wednesday July 29.
Daily Times reports that the minister stated that the loan was given to complete the Federal Government’s rail projects.
READ ALSO ‘I didn’t join politics to solve Nigeria’s problems’ – Rotimi Amaechi
He added that the rail projects may be the truncated by the Chinese government if it suspects that there is a disagreement between the executive and the legislature.
‘’I have said here to the house, and it is a pity that I’m saying it in public, this government, outside Nigeria, they are sensitive to what you say. Nobody is stopping you from your investigation and no government from outside Nigeria can stop you from doing it.
“We are saying that Nigeria has applied for three loans already. For Port Harcourt-Maiduguri (eastern rail line), the minister of finance told me that she was stopped and told that the next borrowing plan would not be approved unless you get Port Harcourt-Maiduguri. Port Harcourt-Maiduguri goes through the south-east and the north-east.
“The only south-south town is Port Harcourt. We are about to apply for a loan. They will not grant that loan. Then you summoned us back to the House to ask why we are constructing Lagos-Kano and we are not constructing Port Harcourt-Maiduguri.
“Can we be allowed to get this loan? Then you can summon us, not to start what you are doing and the whole process will then be stopped.
“My fear is that at the end of the day, some sections of this country will suffer if they stop giving us loans; two projects that will suffer: the first one is Lagos-Ibadan (rail line), we have not finished disbursement,’’ Amaechi said.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.