Niger Assembly Clarifies State Government Is Not Seeking Fresh Loan

By Awwal Umar Kontagora The Niger State House of Assembly has clarified that reports claiming it approved a fresh loan of $14.4 ...

By Awwal Umar Kontagora

The Niger State House of Assembly has clarified that reports claiming it approved a fresh loan of $14.4 million (about ₦20.4 billion) for the Niger State Government are false and misleading.

The Speaker of the House, Barrister Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, made the clarification while speaking with journalists in Minna.

According to him, the request presented before the Assembly was not for a new loan to the state government but for legislative approval to enable the state government provide a guarantee for the Niger Foods Security Systems and Logistics Company.

He explained that the guarantee would allow the company, through the United Bank for Africa (UBA), to access financing under the Saudi EXIM Line of Credit to support its operational expansion, including the development of a 3,000-hectare fully irrigated farm estate in Niger State.

Barrister Sarkin-Daji said the clarification became necessary following widespread misconceptions that the Assembly had approved a fresh loan for the state government.

He expressed concern over reports by some media organisations suggesting that the Assembly had granted another loan facility to Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago's administration.

The Speaker, however, noted that the state government is constitutionally empowered to seek loans through the State Assembly whenever such facilities are required for the development of the state.

He added that the Assembly would not hesitate to approve any genuine loan request that serves the interest of the people of Niger State.

Dissociating the House from reports of the purported $14.4 million loan, Sarkin-Daji urged media practitioners to verify their facts before publication.

He further explained that the correspondence presented before the Assembly was a request from Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago seeking legislative approval for a bank guarantee worth over $14.4 million in favour of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) under the Saudi EXIM Line of Financing, with the Niger State Government serving as guarantor.

The Speaker disclosed that the Assembly maintains comprehensive records of all loan facilities approved for the state government since the inception of the current administration.

He therefore urged members of the public to disregard reports alleging that the state government was taking a fresh loan, stressing that the arrangement only involves the state acting as a guarantor between the Saudi EXIM Line of Financing and the Niger Foods Security Systems and Logistics Company through UBA.

"It is completely untrue that Niger State is taking a fresh loan. The state government's role in this arrangement is simply that of a guarantor," he stated.