…Akpabio wants the motion be stepped down for more consultation
The Red Chamber of the National Assembly boiled on Wednesday over a motion entitled, “Uneven disbursement of half a trillion naira loan to the six geo-political zones by the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN).”
The motion was sponsored by Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) in the 10th Senate.
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The uproar started when the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, who presided over the plenary, rejected the motion to debate the alleged uneven distribution of N500 billion credit facilities to Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.
The rejection of the motion angered some senators, who pointed out that they were shortchanged in the distribution of the loan.
Senator Ndume, the Chief Whip of the Senate, who sponsored the motion, had upon the commencement of the plenary session, drawn the attention of the Senate to a motion he sponsored on the same issue of imbalance in the distribution of the money.
Pointing out that the outcome of that motion was not concluded before the end of the tenure of the 9th Senate, Ndume sought the permission of the Senate President to move the motion for fresh debate.
The move by Ndume was, however, punctured when Senator Solomon Adeola, explained that from his discussion with the chairman of the ad hoc committee set up to investigate the matter, a report was done on the motion and was sent to the Presidency for implementation.
Not satisfied with the argument trailing the motion, Senator Aliu Ahmed Wadada (SDP, Nasarawa state), in anger said that his state and the entire North was grossly cheated, adding that he’s seriously opposed to the imbalance experienced in the distribution of the money.
Wadada, who was eventually ruled out of order, was asked by the President of the Senate, which of the Order he was citing.
But not done with his argument, Ndume further insisted that it is morally wrong that the whole North was given only 11% while only Lagos State got 47% of the loan. He added that his state, Borno State got only 1%.
Ndume also said that he didn’t see the report, adding that some lawmakers were ambushed to sign the report.
He said: “The former Senate President insisted that I should be a member of the committee because I was the mover of the motion. However, I was not always around whenever they called the meeting. I don’t want to believe that it was deliberate. I swear by God, I have not seen a copy of the report. I am a Senator. I raised the motion because my people were shortchanged. This is a serious matter. N500 billion was distributed. Other geopolitical zones got 11 per cent while my region got only one per cent.
“When you say that you have submitted the report and you ambush people to sign the report only when those are interested were not around. I didn’t sign any report, I insisted, I am not a young man. You should have given me the report. I have not seen the report. It is a privilege of mine. What are you talking about? I have not seen the report which was even submitted at the tail end of the 9th Senate.”
At this point, Akpabio, who interrupted Ndume, said the motion had to be stepped down for more consultation, adding, “I can imagine the passion you have shown on this matter. We’re a corrective 10th Senate. We’re ready to correct anything that you feel was not properly done. The Senate President has already ruled on the matter that it should be stepped down.
“It doesn’t mean that the matter is permanently closed. I will refer you to order 63. If you want to reopen a closed matter, you have to come up with a substantive motion.”
Even after his ruling, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc committee during the 9th Senate, Senator Sani Musa was called by the President of the Senate to clear the air on the issue.
Senator Musa said: “I submitted the report after due consultations with all the agencies like the Bank of Industries, Agricultural Development Bank, Minister of Finance, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency and other agencies that are involved in the palliatives or grants.
“When we were deliberating, we included all senators from each geopolitical zone and were meeting. The Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, has attended the meeting twice. The meeting continues. The time that we wanted to submit the report, I called the Chief Whip but he was in Maiduguri. When they submitted the signature sheet to me, I saw that you (Ndume) signed the report of the Committee like any other members. Other members of the committee signed
At that stage, Ndume interjected and said, “but I have not seen it.”
Sani Musa responded, “but you signed it. You signed it and it is not an interim document. It is a final report and it has been adopted. It was debated here and adopted.”
Senate President, Akpabio, put the motion to either step down the motion or not to vote and majority of the members, voted in support.
The motion, which was co-sponsored by Senator Bomai Ibrahim Mohammed (Yobe South), and Ya’u Sahabi (APC, Zamfara North), was listed in the Senate’s Order Paper for debate, but, was, however rejected, when Senate President made his pronouncement.
According to the motion, “the Bank’s Annual Integrated Statutory Report 2021 obtained on 13 July, 2022, from the organization’s website showed that the bank disbursed a loan worth Four Hundred and Eighty Three Billion Naira (N483,000,000,000) out of which only 11% went to the 19 states of Northern Nigeria, while 47% went to Lagos State alone.
“Also aware that the 11% of the loan that went to the North totals about Fifty Three Billion, One Hundred and Thirty Million Naira (N53, 130, 000, 000) while the 47 percent that went to Lagos State alone totals Two Hundred and Twenty Seven Billion and Ten Million Naira (N227,010,000,000) only: Observes that the loans were given out to the Six Geopolitical Zones and the data showed that the South-West accessed the lion’s share 57% of the total loan, which is estimated to be around Two Hundred and Seventy Four Billion, Seven Hundred and Forty Million Naira (N274,740,000,000) only.
“Worried that the South-South Zone accessed 17%, which is roughly Eighty One Billion, Nine Hundred and Forty Million Naira (81,940,000,000) only; the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the North-Central Zone accessed 11%, which is Fifty Three Billion and Twenty Million Naira (N53,020,000,000) only, the South- East Zone accessed a paltry 9%, which is roughly Forty-Three Billion, Three Hundred and Eighty Million Naira (N43,380,000,000) only while the North-West which has 5% accessed Twenty Four Billion, One Hundred Million Naira (N24,100,000,000) only and the North-East accessed only 1%, the least share of the total loan at roughly Four Billion, Eight Hundred and Twenty Million Naira (N4,820,000,000) only.
“Recalls that the Development Bank of Nigeria exists to alleviate financing constraints being faced by Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria through providing finance, partial credit guarantees, and technical assistance to eligible financial intermediaries on a market-conforming and fully financially sustainable basis.
“Also notes that the top five sectors considered for the loan are oil and gas (42.0%), Manufacturing (16.0%) agriculture, forestry and fishery (7.2%), trade and commerce (6.3%), and transportation and storage (3.5%).”
Recall that the 9th Senate under the leadership Ahmad Lawan had set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the alleged uneven disbursement of the N500 billion federal government loans currently being given out the MSMEs by the Development Banks.
Ndume, during the investigation, had claimed that the South-west geopolitical zone in the country, especially Lagos State, had the largest number of the loans’ beneficiaries.
The then Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed had during the investigation said the federal government would review the criteria being used by development banks in the country to disburse loans to medium and small scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the country in order to ensure geographical spread.
