Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has vehemently opposed the plan of the federal government to obtain a $2bn loan in China to augment the deficit in the 2016 budget.
Instead, Falana wants president Muhammadu Buhari to direct relevant government/anti-corruption agencies to recover $200bn “withheld from the federation account or stolen by looters.
In a letter addressed to Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, he warned that he would “have no alternative than to initiate legal proceedings at the federal high court with a view to restraining the federal government from further plunging the nation into external indebtedness”, should plans continue towards securing a $2bn loan from China.
The letter reads in parts, Following a recent report that the Federal Government had concluded arrangements take a loan of $2.5 billion from the World Bank and $1 billion the African Development Bank we wrote to the Administration requested to jettison the plan. In our letter dated February 12, 2016 addressed to your good self we urged the Federal Government to explore alternative sources of raising revenue to fund the 2016 budget instead of increasing the nation’s external debt of $64 billion. In particular, we requested the federal government to embark on the recovery of the revenue of $42 billion withheld from the Federation Account from 1999-2012 by some transnational oil companies, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and other agencies of the federal government.
In your reply dated March 17, 2016 you assured us that the issues raised in our letter were receiving the attention of the Federal Government. We were therefore surprised to learn that the Administration had applied to the Chinese Government for another loan of $2 billion. In urging the Federal Government to desist from taking the loan of $2 billion from China or any other country we are compelled to advise the Federal Government to intensify efforts to recover the nation’s wealth which has been criminally diverted by a handful of local and foreign looters. The Federal Government may wish to direct the relevant agencies and the anti graft bodies to collect the stolen wealth including the following:
Falana wrote, “we are compelled to call on the Federal Government to muster the political will and courage to recover the aforesaid withheld or stolen wealth of not less than $200 billion belonging to the Nigerian people. However, if you refuse to accede to our request we shall have no alternative than to initiate legal proceedings at the Federal High Court with a view to restraining the Federal Government from further plunging the nation into external indebtedness.”
