Buhari Plans to Borrow $2 Billion From China, Femi Falana Vows Court Action

An activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has threatened to go to court if the Muhammadu Buhari administration goes ahead to borrow $5.5 billion from international creditors, Premium Times reports.

Instead of taking loans to increase the nation’s debt profile, the Lagos lawyer advised the government to recover the $200 billion allegedly withheld by federal agencies and multinational corporations.

Mr. Falana’s threat was contained in a letter to the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, dated April 8, 2016.

In the letter titled, “Request for the Collection of Outstanding Revenue of $200 billion Withheld from the Federation Account or Stolen by Looters,” the lawyer also warned the government against collecting a $2 billion loan from the Chinese Government.

Following a report that the administration had concluded plans to borrow $2.5 billion from the World Bank and another $1 billion from the African Development Bank, Mr. Falana said he wrote requesting the government to jettison the plan.

In a previous letter dated February 12, addressed to Mrs. Adeosun, the lawyer said he urged the government to explore alternative revenue sources to fund the 2016 budget instead of increasing the nation’s external debt which currently stands at $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,” Mr. Falana wrote.

“In your reply dated March 17, 2016, you (Mrs. Adeosun) 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.”

Mr. Falana urged the government to direct the relevant agencies and the anti-graft bodies to recover the nation’s stolen funds.

He drew attention to the report by the National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, covering 1999-2012, which indicated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, some oil majors and agencies of the government withheld $20.2 billion for the Federation Account.

He listed other funds being withheld from the federal purse by different agencies and companies and advised the government to compel them to remit such funds to the Federation Account.

“In the light of the foregoing, 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,” Mr. Falana said.

“However, if you (Mrs. Adeosun) 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.”