The Nigerian Senate has set up a committee to investigate the uneven disbursement of N500 billion made by the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) to the six geopolitical zones.
This was disclosed on Wednesday after a motion by Sen. Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) and co-sponsored by Sen. Ibrahim Bomai (APC Yobe South) during plenary.
The Senate stated that Lagos was the major beneficiary with 47% of the total loan while the entire northern region got 11%.
The committee will be chaired by Sen. Sani Musa, chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, and has been given two weeks to report back to the Senate.
The Senate urged Nigeria’s Development Bank to ensure equitable disbursement of the loan in all the six geographical zones of the country.
Recipient sectors: Senator Ndume revealed that the top five sectors considered for the loan were Oil and Gas (42.0 percent), manufacturing (16.0%), agriculture, forestry and fishery (7.2%), trade and commerce (6.3%), and transportation and storage (3.5%).
- “The bank’s Annual Integrated Statutory Report 2021 obtained on July 13 from the organisation’s website indicates that the bank was able to disburse a loan worth N483, 000, 000, out of which only 11% went to the 19 states of northern Nigeria while 47% went to Lagos alone” he added.
The quickest way to DESTROY the viability of DBN and to turn it into yet another “MDA” draining national resources is to turn its criteria from financial viable development to a primarily POLITICAL ‘federal character’ criteria. SMDH