Islamic Bank cautioned on sponsoring white elephant projects in Ebonyi
The Islamic Bank of Nigeria has been admonished to be circumspent of the kind of projects it throws its sponsors, particularly in Ebonyi state, to avoid trapping its funds in unyielding ventures.
A group, Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in Diaspora (AESID) cautioned the bank to be mindful of the kind of project its providing loans to finance in the state, bearing in mind that no administration will be in power forever.
The group, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Ambassador Pascal Oluchukwu and made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja, said that most of the ongoig projects in the Ebonyi state were conceived without putting the citizens in consideration, hence does not have “positive impact on the lives of the people of Ebonyi state.”
The group urged the bank to always do impact assessment analysis of any of the ongoing projects embark upon by the Ebonyi state government before concluding plans to finance such.
This, the group said, will save the Islamic Bank from plungging its resources in financing personally motivated projects by politicians ahead of the 2023 general elections.
While assuring the media that the association will continue to mobilise resistance against what he described as “unholy alliances being pursued by the current administration in Ebonyi state,” Oluchukwu said the reported confession by the Ebonyi state governor, David Umahi, on January 6, 2020 that he (Umahi) is a full member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) even though he holds a PDP mandate as a Governor “is most unfortunate of a leader.”
The group added that the confession was not a surprising news to all those who have closely followed events at Abakaliki Government House since the first term inauguration of Governor Umahi-led administration.
“What was surprising about the statement was the source of the courage to come out in the open and admit to what has clearly been an open secret in Ebonyi, but which was hidden in the erroneous assumption that the cat will remain in the bag for many years. No one is surprised by this confession.”
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The political activist also traced Governor Umahi’s long-term relationship with the APC to prior 2019 general elections, saying “In no time, we shall reveal some of these undoings.”
The statement, however, urged the current administration in Ebonyi state to learn from the past and remember that government will come and go but history will not be altered.
“We call on the current administration in Ebonyi state to desist from selfish and personal interest but vigorously pursue the general interest of the Ebonyi people, listen to their cry and genuinely work to develop our land ,” the group stated.
