There was fireworks yesterday as members of the House of Representatives grilled Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi over controversial Chinese loans.
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi
The House of Representatives has tackled Nigeria's Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi over the sovereignty clause in Nigeria’s loan agreement with China on Monday.
The lawmakers said the sovereignty clause is dangerous.
According to a report by Punch, the Chairman of the House Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements, Nicholas Ossai, who stated this in Abuja at the investigative hearing on external loans and commercial agreements, said Nigeria’s loan agreement with the Asian country was being governed by Chinese laws.
He said despite the fact that the Federal Government in 2014 signed an Executive Order providing guidelines on waiver of sovereign immunity during loan and commercial agreement negotiations, Nigerian officials had been violating the order.
Members of the executive, who appeared before the committee were the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; 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.
Others included the Director-General, Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha; Permanent Secretary (Special Duties in the Ministry of Finance), Aliyu Ahmed and Director, Legal Services, Gabriel Christopher, both representing the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.
Ossai, in his opening address, stated that the controversial clauses and agreements had been existing before the Muhammadu Buhari-led regime. He also stated that the probe was not about the ruling All Progressives Congress or the Peoples Democratic Party.
He also said the lawmakers’ probe was not limited to Chinese loans and commercial contracts. Ossai stated, “We will like Nigerians to know that we are not focusing on only Chinese loans. From what we know, Nigeria has over 500 bilateral loan/commercial contract agreements and investment treaties with different countries and institutions. There is no way the committee will do a thorough job without segmenting the issues based on countries, institutions or MDAs.
“The loan agreements we have seen so far show that government officials charged with the responsibility of representing Nigeria in these issues are more desperate to just take the loans at any condition, possibly using non-negotiated loan agreement templates rather than go through the rigour of diligent technical review of negotiating specific clauses with clarity and for national interest.”
The committee chairman said it was a common practice that most international loan agreements would adopt ‘sovereign guarantee’ and a neutral international arbitration centre.
He said, “Even in situations where countries, out of desperation and weak economic position, waive their national sovereignty in bilateral or contractual agreements, the immunity of sovereignty waiver clause will usually be clear and categorically state specific assets associated with the loans for takeover in the event of default.
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