Reps panel chair silent on Chinese loans’ probe discontinuation

The House of Representatives has kept mum on the alleged abandonment of the investigation of commercial agreements and external borrowings by the Federal Government, which its committee carrying out the probe said contained “dangerous” clauses.

The probe has lasted 14 months without the House Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements, chaired by Mr Nicholas Ossai, turning in a report.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on June 16, 2021, thanked President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, for stopping the probe.

While answering questions on ‘Politics Today’, a current affairs programme of Channels Television, Amaechi had alleged that the probe prevented China from granting more loans to Nigeria.

Amaechi had said, “We are having a problem with the Ibadan-Kano rail because of the reaction of the committee of the National Assembly. The Chinese are asking how do they know that Nigeria wants to pay back when a committee of the National Assembly is questioning us about the terms of the agreement. There is an impact. We have not got the loan since that time. We were supposed to get the loan within the period that happened, but from that period till now, we have not got any loan.

“So, Ibadan-Kano rail, I will hang it on the National Assembly. But I must be grateful to both the Senate President and the Speaker for intervening. They intervened to stop the young man (Ossai), the honourable member who actually chaired the committee, and that helped a bit. Like I said, I’m grateful to the Speaker and I’m grateful to the Senate President, because when I complained, they listened to the complaint and stopped the committee.”

The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu, who was contacted to confirm if the probe had truly been botched, referred our correspondent to the chairman of the committee.

Kalu was first contacted via WhatsApp on June 25, 2021, and said, “Why not reach out to Ossai?”

Ossai, however, refused to comment on Amaechi’s claim. He was asked if his committee had suspended the probe, but he did not respond though WhatsApp indicated that he had read the message.
A reminder was sent to Ossai on Saturday, which he also read but did not respond.

The House had in plenary on May 12, 2020, criticised Nigeria’s loan agreements with China, calling for a review of the deals and the cancellation of the latest ones under the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

It had also decried that the National Assembly did not have the details of the loans, insisting that subsequent ones must comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

The House Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements headed by Ossai, which was mandated to conduct the investigation, had raised the alarm over “dangerous” clauses in loans and commercial agreements with international bodies and other countries, especially China.

The committee, after grilling Amaechi at its first and second hearings, invited several other ministers and top officials of the Federal Government to the third hearing on the said date.

Those expected at the hearing included the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Ali Pantami; Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Maigari; and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello.

Ossai, however, dismissed those who showed up and announced that the lawmakers had instead summoned the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), who was supposed to know about the controversial clauses in the loans and agreements.

The PUNCH had reported exclusively on August 19, 2020, that pressure was mounting on the committee over the probe, forcing the panel to change its approach to the investigation, especially open confrontation with ministers.
The committee had held its third and last public activity on the matter on August 18, 2020, when it suspended its investigative hearing.

The probe has, however, become inconclusive as the committee has yet to lay its report before the House over one year after.

PUNCH