Femi Falana speaks on Buhari’s trip to China

Human right lawyer,Mr Femi Falana

Human right lawyer,Mr Femi Falana has voiced out his displeasure at the idea of the Buhari-led Administration to apply for a loan of  $2 billion from the Chinese Government.

In a letter addressed to Mrs 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 $2 billion loan from China.

“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 to 2012 by some trans-national 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.

He said National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) confirmed that from five cycles of its independent audit reports covering 1999 to 2012, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), some oil companies and certain agencies of the Federal Government had withheld $20.2 billion for the Federation Account.