The Senate yesterday rejected a motion to reintroduce a 9th Senate’s motion on the N500 billion Development Bank loan.
The motion, titled, “Uneven Disbursement Of Half A Trillion Naira Loan To The Six Geopolitical Zones By The Development Bank Of Nigeria,” introduce by the Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, was rejected on the ground that he presented the same motion in the 9th Senate.
Ndume said there was a huge disparity and uneven disbursement of half a trillion naira loan by the Development Bank of Nigeria to the six geopolitical zones in the country in 2021.
He said the Bank’s Annual Integrated Statutory Report 2021 obtained by him on July 13, 2022, from the its website showed that the bank disbursed loans worth N483, 000, 000, 000 out of which only 11 per cent went to the 19 states of northern Nigeria, while 47 per cent went to Lagos State alone.
He also noted that the 11 per cent of the loan that went to the entire northern totals about N53.1bn while the 47 per cent that went to Lagos State alone totals about N227bn.
Ndume further added that the South-West accessed the lion’s share which was 57 per cent of the total loan, which was estimated to be about N274, 740, 000,000 only.
He expressed worry that the South-South Zone accessed 17 per cent, (N81, 940, 000, 000); Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the North-Central Zone, 11per cent, ($53, 020, 000, 000) only; the South-East Zone, nine per cent, (N43, 380, 000, 000); the North-West has 5 per cent, (N24, 100, 000, 000) and the North-East accessed only 1 per cent, N4.8bn.
He said the DBN existed to alleviate financing constraints being faced by Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria by providing finance, partial credit guarantees, and technical assistance to eligible financial intermediaries on a market-conforming and fully financially sustainable basis.
The Senator Ahmad Lawan-led 9th Senate set up an adhoc Committee to probe Ndume’s claims and the panel chaired by Senator Sani Musa (Niger East), investigated the development and submitted its report which was debated, passed and sent to the executive for implementation.
But the Senate stepped down Ndume’s fresh motion yesterday after Musa had explained that the 9th Senate concluded work on the matter and that the newly appointed Chief Whip actually appended his signature to the document then.
The development did not go down well with Ndume who said, “The former Senate President (Ahmad Lawan) had 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 short changed. This is a serious matter. N500bn 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 who are interested were not around.
