Former governorship aspirant of the Accord Party, in the last governorship election in Enugu state, Barrister John Nwobodo, has flayed Governor Peter Mbah for seeking to obtain a huge loan of one hundred and seventy billion Naira (N170 billion), to finance capital projects.
The secretary to the Enugu State Government (SSG), Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, wrote to the Enugu State House of Assembly requesting that they should approve the procurement of the loan which they have already approved.
But angry at the request, Nwobodo, former CNPP and IPAC chairman, said though it was good to borrow to meet needs, but the loan far exceeded the approved loan limit.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen in Enugu, Wednesday, Nwobodo said that the borrowing limit is N100bn and that Mbah overshot by N70 billion.
The former Accord governorship aspirant said that he would do everything possible to see that government did not secure the loan and had already written the banks associated with the loan to steer clear because he would seek redress in a law court.
According to Nwobodo, the Enugu State Fiscal Responsibility Law of 2018 Section 15 empowered the state government to borrow according to the stipulated maximum limit not exceeding N100 billion.
“Borrowing a loan is not the problem. What is the problem here is that the amount involved is in excess of the amount provided by law. The highest amount a government can borrow under our law is N100bn from the N170bn.
“So if you subtract the N100bn from the N170 billion borrowed, you can see the difference is much. Government cannot borrow humongous amount sum of N70 billion in excess of the limit provided for under the law. Secondly, the government said they have borrowed to pay salaries for the recurrent expenditure. Still under the law, the Enugu State Fiscal Responsibility Law, you can only borrow for infrastructure and human development. It does not include borrowing to pay,” he said.
