Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State is taking a Federal Government N14.2 billion loan facility through the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to spur infrastructural development of Enugu State.
Ugwuanyi approached the state House of Assembly, last week, for approval to procure two separate loans from the CBN.
The details show that N10 billion is for infrastructural projects and N4.207 billion for the payment of the arrears of pensions and salaries owed public servants.
The loans are part of the arrangement of the Federal Government to assist state governments out of their financial challenges arising from the global glut in the oil market.
The decision to give loans of up to N10 billion to interested state governments was reached at the June 2015 meeting of the National Economic Council, NEC. Following that decision, the CBN, on September 1, wrote to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, requesting the governors interested in the loan to file applications.
Steps to procure the loan
The Enugu government began the process to procure the loans through two separate Executive Council, EXCO, memos from the state Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Mrs. Eucharia Offor, deliberated upon during the council meeting of September 21 .
Same day, the State House of Assembly sat and, among other issues, deliberated on a motion on notice presented by the Leader of the House, Ikechukwu Ezugwu, seeking the approval of the loans.
The House, through a Motion on Notice, HM/03/2015, passed a resolution authorising the state government to obtain the N14.2billion loans.
The loan carries single interest rate of nine percent and 20 years repayment period.
Critical areas of infrastructural need
Penocks-NOWAS-Timber Shed-T-Junction-Ugwuogo-Nike and Abakpa Junction-Liberty-T-Junction roads, earmarked by the governor for rehabilitation and dualization, are a sore point in Enugu metropolis.
Ugwuanyi had, in his maiden tour immediately after assumption of office, announced the intention of his administration to end motorists’ pain occasioned by traffic gridlock on both roads.
Major artery to the Enugu-North senatorial zone following the construction of the Ugwogo-Nike-Opi Junction-Nsukka road, the roads, if rehabilitated and dualized ,will reduce man hours wasted in transit, cut the cost of farm produce and increase the cost of landed properties along that flank and open the area as an investment destination when compared to the saturated metropolis and trigger economic activities along that corridor.
Sunday Vanguard checks revealed that a journey of 10 minutes from T-junction to any part of the metropolis takes an energy, economic and time-sapping hours.
A cross section of Enugu residents interviewed expressed support for the governor’s resolve to rehabilitate and dualize the roads. Whereas Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, ECTDA, has posted notices on walls of owners, asking them to remove property that may obstruct the project, residents are itchy to see earth moving machines mobilized to site.
Meanwhile, Sunday Vanguard learnt that Enugu Transport Company, ENTRACO; Institute of Management and Technology, IMT; Water Corporation; Daily Star, among others, will benefit from the bail-out funds.
Funds from the bailout will also be used to complete the Enugu International Conference Centre, ICC.
Having reached 80 per cent completion, the ICC commissioning promises to boost tourism, hospitality and culture in Enugu. (Vanguard)
