Soludo: Why I need N100bn loan after 5 months in office

Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has written the State House of Assembly to approve a loan of N100bn for him.

The loan facility , according to the governor’s letter, would be for construction and refurbishment of key infrastructure in the State

Soludo on assumption of office on March 17,2022 said he inherited a heavy debt from his predecessor, Chief Willie Obiano

The Governor’s letter to the Anambra lawmakers dated July 5, 2022,was read at the plenary on Friday by the Speaker, Hon Uche Okafor.

Announcing the development, the Speaker said,”Mr Governor, is seeking approval to secure a N100 billion Global Limit Multiple Term Loan Facility for the construction and refurbishment of key infrastructure in the state.”

The letter was later referred to the House Committee on Public Accounts for consideration which would revert to whole house on Thursday, July 21.

In a related development, the lawmakers, on Friday passed the State 2022 Revised Appropriation Bill of N169.6 billion.

The approval came about 55 days after Governor Soludo presented the bill to the House for approval.

The passage followed the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, led by Hon Obinna Emeneka, during plenary .

While presenting the report, Emeneka, (Anambra East Constituency), said that the revised budget was made up of N108 billion capital expenditure and N61.3 billion recurrent expenditure.

He said, “After thorough scrutiny and review, we recommend that the size of the 2022 revised budget be retained except for little adjustments in some ministries, department and agencies’ allocation.

“That the sum of N169,621,744,131 be approved for the service of the Anambra state government for the year ending, Dec. 31, 2022, and for related purposes.

“The committee also recommends that subsequently, projects and contractors be specified and funds should be released to MDAs to ensure effective budget performance.” the Chairman said

The Speaker of the House, Mr Uche Okafor commended the committee for what he called a thorough scrutiny of the budget, while he conducted a voice vote for the adoption of the report.

After the passage of the bill, the Speaker directed the Acting Clerk of the House, Mrs Esther Anaetoh, to send a copy of the bill to Soludo for his assent.