'Approved N120b loan by Delta Assembly may be diverted to politicking'

• Published date: 02 February 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

ANiger Delta group, Policy Alert, has raised the alarm that the N120billion loan approved by the state's legislature may be diverted for politicking rather than capital projects.

It said the loan approval fuelled the suspicion that the resources could be used for politicking rather than for capital projects, especially when Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the speaker of the assembly a governorship candidate.

The body urged the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) to cause an investigation of the loan approval by the Delta Assembly.

It enjoined the FRC to activate its power provided by Section 2(1b) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (2007), whether any person had violated any provision of the Act in the loan approval.

It described Delta government's plan to obtain a fresh loan of N120billion, despite its heavy domestic debt burden, as 'condemnable'.

Delta State House of Assembly on January 26 approved two loan...