The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) on Sunday warned that the terms of the loans between China and Nigeria could endanger the nation’s sovereignty.
In separate statements issued in Abuja, both groups faulted some terms of the loans, which they insisted might lead to mortgaging the county’s future to China, in the event of a default in repayment.
The main opposition party, in a statement by its spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan, noted: “Nigerians can recall that our party had, on May 28, 2020, alerted that the Muhammadu Buhari administration and the APC had placed our nation on the international auction market with accumulation of foreign loans under nebulous terms.”
It described as regrettable the attitude of government officials, including Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, whom it accused of alluding to ceding of control and ownership of assets in the event of a default.
The PDP stated further: “As a pan-Nigerian party, the PDP declares that our sovereignty as a nation remains non-negotiable.
“Nigerians reject such sovereignty-pawning clause and are not ready to mortgage any parts of our country under any guise whatsoever.
“In that regard, the PDP charges the APC administration to retrace its step and halt every action regarding the administration of the loans until all toxic clauses are deleted from the agreement.”
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In its statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, the CNPP urged the Transport minister to step aside while the probe of the “lethal clauses” in Article 8(1) of the commercial loan agreement between Nigeria and Export-Import Bank of China, which allegedly “wills the sovereignty of Nigeria” in the $400 million loan for the Nigeria National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure Backbone Phase II Project, signed in 2018, is ongoing.
The statement CNPP commended the Chairman of the House Committee on Treaties and Agreements, Ossai Nicholas Ossai, “for observing the anomaly and not succumbing to the minister’s antics aimed at truncating the probe”.
The statement read further: “We are aware that the minister is expected to appear again before the House of Representatives on August 17, 2020, over the ongoing investigation into the commercial loan agreement signed between Nigeria and Export-Import Bank of China to the tune of $5.3 billion.
“For us, for Mr. Amaechi to urge the House Committee not to investigate the terms of the loans being received by the Federal Government because he believed that the probe will jeopardise the chances of the country getting further loans, is nothing but a cover-up attempt that must be strongly resisted.
“The minister’s further argument that China was monitoring happenings in Nigeria and the probe will send a negative message to the Asian country about Nigeria is clearly an affront on the intelligence of the Nigerian people.
“We believe that the real fear of the Minister of Transportation is that if the probe continues, at the end of the day, his deeds against the Nigerian people will come to the open.”
