Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to Mrs Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, asking her to “urgently provide information on the total amount of money paid to contractors from the $460 million loan obtained in 2010 from China to fund the apparently failed Abuja Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) contract, the loan which the Federal Government has continued to re-pay.”

SERAP urged Mrs Ahmed to “disclose specific details of local contractors, if any, that have received funds from the loan for the CCTV contract, reportedly awarded to China’s ZTE Corporation, as well as the implementation status of the project.”

SERAP also sought: “disclosure of details of repayment for other Chinese loans for allegedly failed projects between 1999--2015, the status of any such projects, and details of local and Chinese contractors involved in the projects. We urge you to clarify if the N1.5 billion paid in 2010 for another apparently failed contract to construct the headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau is part of another Chinese loan.”

In the FoI request dated 25 October 2019 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “We are concerned that Nigerians are being made to pay for the Chinese loans for apparently failed projects, and for which they have not benefited in any way, shape or form. Transparency in the spending of Chinese loans is good for everyone, as this would help to increase the effectiveness, legitimacy, and contribution of the loans to the development of public goods and services, and the general public interests.”

SERAP said it would take legal action “if the requested information is not provided to us within 14 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter.”

SERAP said: “Servicing Chinese loans for failed projects is double jeopardy for Nigerians—they can neither see nor benefit from the projects; yet, they are made to pay both the loans and the accrued interests. The loans should never have been obtained in the first place, as successive governments should have drawn funds from the over $670 million (N241.2 billion) budgeted annually as security votes, but which remain synonymous with official corruption and unaccounted for.”

The organization expressed “concern that the $460 million loan got for the failed Abuja CCTV project and the N1.5 billion for the construction of CCB headquarters, which may be part of another Chinese loan, may have been mismanaged or stolen, and in any case, remain unaccounted for.”

The FoI request read in part: “SERAP is concerned that the allegations of corruption involving the use of the funds and other similar Chinese loans may be responsible for the security challenges confronting Abuja, and the limited capacity of the CCB to discharge its constitutional and statutory mandates to prevent corruption in asset declarations of presidents, vice-presidents, governors, and other public officers, as prescribed by the Nigerian constitution of 1999 (as amended).”

“As trustee of public funds, SERAP contends that your Ministry has a legal duty to disclose details of spending on the $460 million Abuja CCTV project and N1.5 billion for the construction of CCB headquarters, to the beneficiaries (Nigerians) of the trust, if and when called upon to do so. Any failure or refusal to provide the information will also be clearly inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the FoI Act.”

“If the allegations of mismanagement and corruption in the execution of projects for which loans have been obtained from China are true, such allegations will clearly amount to a fundamental breach of national anticorruption laws and the country’s international anticorruption obligations including under the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party. The facts relating to these serious allegations require your immediate and urgent disclosure and clarifications.”

“As a key agency of government, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has a sacred duty to ensure that the country’s loans including those obtained from China are transparently and accountably used solely for the purposes for which the loans are obtained, and for the effective development of public goods and services as well as the general public interests.”

“This implies providing strong leadership in the efforts to curb public sector corruption, and to refer to appropriate anticorruption agencies any allegations of corruption in which any agencies of government and/or contractors may be involved. This leadership is important if the Ministry is to enjoy the public trust and confidence essential for its effectiveness and impact.”

“We would like you to clarify if the N1.5 billion mobilisation fee reportedly paid in September 2010 to contractors for the construction of the headquarters of the CCB in Abuja is part of another loan obtained from China.”

“We are concerned that the CCB building project is still in foundation level several years after payment of N1.5 billion of the total contract fee of N3.5billion. However, the contract was reportedly reviewed in October 2012 from N3.5 billion to N8.7 billion, with the contract agreement signed on February 5, 2013.”

“SERAP notes that the consequences of corruption are felt by citizens on a daily basis. Corruption exposes them to additional costs to pay for health, education and administrative services. Another consequence of corruption is the growing inequality in the country, where the privileged few have access to all public resources, while the vast majority of citizens are deprived of access to public goods and services.”


“Also, corruption undermines economic development of the country, trapping the majority of Nigerians in poverty and depriving them of employment opportunities.”


SERAP therefore urged Mrs Ahmed to:

1. Disclose the total amounts of money, if any, that have been paid/released for the execution of projects for which loans have been obtained from China;

2. Compel the contractors and companies including Chinese companies that have been paid from the loans to go back to sites and urgently complete the projects;

3. Suspend repayment of any Chinese loans until there are specific guarantees by local and Chinese contractors and companies that transparency and accountability will be ensured in the execution of the affected projects;

4. Disclose the amount of interests so far paid on the loans obtained for the project which have allegedly not been fully, properly or satisfactorily executed;

5. Refer any allegations of corruption involving the execution of projects for which loans have been obtained from China to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for investigation;

6. Ensure that anyone involved in alleged corruption in projects supported by China is brought to justice if there is relevant and sufficient admissible evidence;

7. Set up processes and procedures to safeguard Chinese loans and mitigate corruption risks in the spending of the loans and to promote fair and free competition, consistent with Nigeria’s anti-corruption legal frameworks and international standards.

http://serap-nigeria.org/foi-serap-seeks-details-of-spending-on-failed-460m-cctv-other-chinese-loans.ngo/

T

...and the lifeless one and his government keeps exploiting us.
Naija when our mumu go do??
see Hong Kong, Lebanon, they are all holding their leaders accountable. but for naija we just hail them.
I just pity the next generation because I'm not certain they'll be anything left for them

Will they get it?
These transactions are opaque mostly because they are not clean

Details ke. Since 2010. That one have finish na

Anyways, let your logo speak volumes for you today. Make a fine image of your logo so you can get em interested more in your business.
So stop wondering, tis just 1k.

Contact us today. It'd be a good way to spice things up

I love this from SERAP.
Beautiful.
Not expecting any response from the FG (because they wouldn't want to set a precedence), but at least they will know that not all Nigerians are daft. Well done SERAP.

I used to think that SERAP was pro-pdp, but with this, we can assume that they are actually pro-Nigerians.

Since these contracts were mostly signed during the PDP admin, response from the govt, assuming they are sincere, shouldn't be difficult.

That money has entered voice mail long ago.

460M dollars and no results they must explain ooo Dem don chop the money wan come Dy Dodge questions

How can I be a member of SERAP?

So Nigeria took a loan from China for the project.
Contractors were paid but they didn't do the job
Nigeria is repaying the loan plus the interest for a contract not executed

Do we really need SERAP or any organization to remind or compel the anti corruption agencies before taking actions on such obvious scam?

What do I even know? Shebi someone recently scammed the Nation with a bougous Airline launch which turned out to be a mere logo launch.

I like the part where the agency clearly stated that the loan was unnecessary as the project could be adequately financed from the obscure security votes the politicians take. If only the organized labour would agitate for the scrap of the security votes for political office holders

If I say the way out of our problem is prayers, then I remember that this nation is a praying nation yet we are like this.
Proper planing? Then I remember we have one of the best plan (on papers though).
Is it talking? Individuals and organizations have been doing that.
For Nigeria to get better everyone from top to least must get involved in building this nation.

Imaging! how can one collect loan, squander it, then still suffer to pay back?

Make e be one useless yahoo boy just pick $1 then EFCC will be running around him and packing all his belongings all in the name of scam or fraud. But they will be silent on issues that matters in this society. Na thunder go fire all of Una

Buhari nd his northern co-criminals have been defrauding the country with dubious and questionable loans and failed projects.

How can u book space without writing something meaningful

waloma:
T

Good one, unlike Deji chasing after imaginary bullion van of a private citizen


..

T

Right move in the right direction. There is need to dig deeper and fish out the the contractors who benefited from the the failed Abuja CCTV project/loan

I pray the next president prosecutes GEJ. This agreement PMB with GEJ signed is not helping

Another one.... now it's official indomie generation will pay debt all through our adult life

In asia. All these looters apc and pdp would have been shot dead

this is how our leaders will sell the next generations into slavery

to be frank the CCTV was deployed, but never commissioned. you will see them at corners in lagos. some have fallen down long since

i have to wonder at what game china was running with the CCTV. the really dangerous loans are infrastructure loans. they build a bridge, a road, a railway line - if you do not pay up, they simply take it over.

there is nothing to take over in this case, or maybe there is. maybe that is how the chinese will own domestic surveillance infrastructure in nigeria

It's about time a holistic view on all this over exposed Chinese loans is looked into ........

When someone are to appear in court because of this, they fall sick

degamemaster:
Buhari nd his northern co-criminals have been defrauding the country with dubious and questionable loans and failed projects.

This happened during the 'glorious' PDP years.

What do you have to say now?

Stealing public funds should be made a treasonable offence with a sentence of death by hanging..