CORRUPTION: Group tells N’Assembly not to approve Buhari’s loan request again 

The National Assembly has been urged not to approve any further loan request from President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CSLAC) made the call on Tuesday, accusing Buhari’s administration of failing to account for the loans already taken.

At a news conference in Abuja, the group’s Executive Director, Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani, claimed that a lot of money the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) borrowed had been looted without accountability.

He said that the federal lawmakers should also ensure the executive arm recovers misappropriated and looted funds as various government reports had shown.

He referred to the 2018 findings and reports of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives, which showed that there were some agencies in the extractive sector that had refused to remit funds due to the Federation Account.

Further noting that 265 agencies had defaulted in the submission of audited accounts for 2017 while 11 agencies never submitted any financial statements since inception, Musa-Rafsanjani said it was not healthy for funds to be appropriated to agencies that failed to account for what they received over the years.

“We must not keep quiet we must speak and put a stop to this mindless looting. Government must focus on blocking the leakages, instead of going for more loans.

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“National Assembly must rise and put a stop to this; they have a responsibility to rescue the country.

“It is therefore our hope that National Assembly denies approval of another loan until these illicit flows are accounted for and recovered,” he said.

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