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.
“I didn’t sign any report, I insisted, I am not a young man. You should have given me the report. I have not seen the report. It is a privilege of mine.
“What are you talking about? I have not seen the report which was even submitted at the tail end of the 9th Senate.”
Akpabio invited Musa to clarify the situation in order to finally lay the matter to rest.
The Niger East Senator said, “I submitted the report after due consultations with all the agencies like the bank of industries, Agricultural Development Bank, Minister of Finance, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency and other agencies that are involved in the palliatives or grants.
“When we were deliberating, we included all senators from each geopolitical zone and were meeting.
“The Chief Whip, (Ali Ndume), attended the meeting twice. The meeting continued. The time that we wanted to submit the report, I called the Chief Whip but he was in Maiduguri.
“When they submitted the signature sheet to me, I saw that you (Ndume) signed the report of the Committee like any other member.”
At that stage Ndume interjected and said, “but I have not seen it.”
Musa responded, “But you signed it. You signed it and it is not an interim document. It is a final report and it has been adopted. It was debated here and adopted.”
The Senate President at that stage said, “I can imagine the passion you (Ndume) have shown on this matter. We’re a corrective 10th Senate.
“We’re ready to correct anything that you feel was not properly done. The Senate President has already ruled on the matter that it should be stepped down.
“It doesn’t mean that the matter is permanently closed. I will refer you to order 63. If you want to reopen a closed matter, you have to come up with a substantive motion.”
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, put the motion to either step down the motion or not to vote, and majority of the members voted in support.
Recall that the former minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, who appeared before the adhoc panel, said the Federal Government would review the criteria used by development banks in the country.
Meanwhile, the Senate has returned its weekly plenary to hold thrice – Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
According to the Senate, the reversal of the three days sitting in a week is in line with its Rules.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio who announced this said Section 63 of the Constitution provides that the Senate and House of Representatives shall each sit for not less than 181 days in a year while section 68 thereof states that any legislator who fails to attend the proceedings of the House or Senate for less than one third of the required number of days shall automatically lose his or her seat.
The two chambers of the National Assembly may not meet the mandatory constitutional requirement of 181 sittings yearly because of a reduction in the number of sitting days to once a week.
The development followed a Point of Order raised during Wednesday’s plenary by Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South) to resume.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, presiding over the plenary agreed with the point of order raised by the Abia lawmaker and approved the order.
Recalled that the Senate had during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic had rescheduled its plenary sessions to just Tuesdays and Wednesdays while their House of Representatives counterpart continued to hold plenary sessions thrice weekly until the current Tenth Assembly.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the House of Representatives has been sitting once a week as opposed to the usual three times per week. The Senate has been struggling to hold plenary sessions twice, and in some cases once, per week.