MINISTER of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was the first governor in Nigeria to raise the bond for infrastructure and development in Nigeria.

Fashola, who succeeded Tinubu as governor in 2007, made the claim while speaking on TVC News on Thursday, January 12, in Lagos.
While defending whether Tinubu was fit and proper to rule Nigeria, the minister said Tinubu raised the bond despite a federal PDP opposition, which many states are now modelling.

“Let us remember that the first state bond for infrastructure and development in this country was raised during his term as governor. And it was raised in spite of a Federal PDP opposition,” he said.

He added that Tinubu’s initiatives, including his Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) style, have become a model today for many states of the federation.

Fashola’s claim was also uploaded to Twitter by a tweep @Osazenoo with a caption that reads:
“Fashola’s take on whether Tinubu has the capacity to lead Nigeria. Interesting facts”.

The video, which has wide acceptance among Tinubu’s followers on the social media site, was posted on Thursday, January 12. It has garnered over 1,737 retweets and more than 500,000 views as of Friday, January 13.


THE CLAIM
Tinubu was the first governor in Nigeria to raise the bond for infrastructure and development in Nigeria.


THE FINDINGS
A bond, according to Investopedia, is a fixed-income instrument that represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower (typically corporate or governmental). A bond could be thought of as an I.O.U. between the lender and borrower, including the loan details and its payments.

Bonds are used by companies, states, and sovereign governments to finance projects and operations. Owners of bonds are debtholders, or creditors, of the issuer. Bond details include the end date when the principal of the loan is due to be paid to the bond owner and usually include the terms for variable or fixed interest payments made by the borrower.

The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) defined a bond as tradable security issued by the borrower (bond issuer) representing a formal agreement to repay the lender (the bondholder) the full amount plus interest over the lifetime of the bond.

In Nigeria, a bond may be publicly placed (i.e., listed on an exchange for trading) for trading by the public or maybe a private placement, sold to qualified investors, i.e., institutional investors (like Pension Funds, Banks, etc.) and high net worth individuals.

Findings by The ICIR revealed that in 1978 the old Bendel state government headed by Husaini Abdullahi, a military governor took a bond, this preceded Tinubu’s administration. The Bendel State Loan Stock valued at N20 million was taken to develop housing estate in the region. The bond matured in 1988 at a 7 per cent coupon rate.

Then there was a bond taken by the Ogun State Revenue Bond, which took a N15 billion, 10-year bond in 1986 for the development of a water project. When the bond was taken, Raji Alagbe Rasaki was the state’s military governor.

Between 1987 and 1988, the Lagos State Revenue Bond issued a total sum of N90 billion bond for the development of the Lekki Peninsula. Mike Akhigbe was the military governor then.

The first Oyo State Revenue Bond of N30 billion for Adamasingba Shopping Complex, Gbagi Market Development was a 12-year bond.
The Kaduna State Revenue Bond took a N60 billion bond between 1989 and 1993 for the development of Ginger factory. Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar and Lawal Jafaru Isa were the military governor and administrators, respectively, within these periods.

The Edo State Revenue Bond took a N1 billion bond in 2000 for the development of Ogba Riverside Housing Estate. Lucky Igbinedion was the elected executive governor. The same year, the Delta State Revenue Bond, which took N3.5 billion to develop the market, healthcare, water and education in the state. James Ibori was the governor.

In 2002, Yobe State Revenue Bond and Ekiti State Revenue Bond took bonds for various developmental projects in their states, respectively.

The Lagos State government under Tinubu in 2002 took N15 billion bond through the Lagos State Bond for the refinance of developmental projects in the state

So far, Lagos State is leading other states with a total of N290.090 billion in bond issuance. The highest was N87.5 billion government Bond – Series 2 under the N167.5 billion debt issuance programme of 2013 for maturity in 2020.

The bond raised, which was issued at a 13.5 coupon rate, was meant for infrastructure developments (roads, rail, buildings and bridges etc), health facilities, Adiyan Water Project Phase II construction, and shoreline protection work.

Lagos had in 2012 issued a N80 billion bond under the Series 1 of the N167.5 billion debt issuance programme at a 14.5 per cent coupon rate for construction of Adiyan Waterworks (Phase II), infrastructure developments (roads, rail, buildings and bridges etc.), health facilities and redevelopment of Eric Moore Schools (Phase I).


THE VERDICT
Fashola’s claim that Tinubu was the first governor in Nigeria to raise the bond for infrastructure and development in Nigeria is FALSE. Findings by The ICIR has shown that before Tinubu, other states, including regional and Local governments, had raised bonds for various developmental projects in Nigeria.

Although some of the governments before 1999 were headed by military personnel, the first state to borrow from the bond market when Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 was the Edo and Delta states governments headed by Lucky Igbinedon and James Ibori, respectively, not Tinubu, who was then Lagos State governor.