How Amosun offers NASS members $50million bribe to approve $350m loan
The Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun was alleged to have offered National Assembly members $50million to approve $350m loan for the state.
Though reports has it that the House of Representatives rejected the offer, but it was not cleared if the Senate will collect the bribe, though officially both chambers have rejected the bribery offer.
But sources close to the two chambers informed Daily Dispatch that members of the committees on Loans/Aids/Debt Management in the Senate and House of Reps have agreed to accept the bribe and that approval has been given.
Investigations revealed that the senate had rejected the loan for Ogun because it alleged that Amosun intends to use it to finance his candidate for 2019 governorship election to fight Senator Adeola Solomon who is also eyeing the seat, while the same goes to Kaduna.
It was learnt that when the report was to laid at the plenary, a Senator from Lagos state Adeola wanted to fight Chairman of the committee, Senator Shehu Sani for removing Ogun state was removed from the loan request?
Senator Sani was reported to have argued that his state (Kaduna) was also removed from the list.
The Committees on Loans/Aids/Debt Management from both chambers had met with the officials of some states seeking foreign loan approvals at the National Assembly in Abuja to defend their proposals.
The committees is chaired by Senator Shehu Sani (Senate) and Hon. Adeyinka Ajayi from Osun State chaired the House Committee, whose wife is a serving Special Adviser to Governor Amosun in Ogun State.
Foreseeing the obstacles before the approval of the $350m loan, the governor few days ago personally flew to Abuja to meet some of the members of the committee to pave way for the smooth approval of the loan.
According to one of the members of the committee, the governor acted very suspicious and desperate in his manner of approach and never mentioned any project tied to the said loan. It was further revealed that the governor promised the members of the committee contracts to the tune of $25m if the loan is approved without public scrutiny.
This made the members of the committees to wonder why the governor is after such a huge amount of loan when he has less than two years to spend in office. The secrecy surrounding the projects which the governor intends to use the loan for raised further suspicion among the members of the committees.
During the meeting, a member of the committee asked the governor to highlight the projects but the governor snapped at him and replied that it’s basically agriculture and industrialization. This angered some members of the committee and particularly a PDP member in the committee told the governor that they are not fools. He made the governor realise that agriculture thrives only through the private sector while the governor only needs to put right policies in place for investors to have conducive environment.
Another member of the committee whom the governor met at the meeting also told him that his state has a good IGR and he doesn’t see why a state like Ogun State needs such a huge amount of loan. The governor however tried to convince him that the loans would be used to provide infrastructure like roads, railway and airport. The committee member jokingly asked the governor how these projects will pay back the huge loan.
At this point, the governor angrily left the meeting and proceeded to Aso rock to meet with the chief of staff to the President Abba Kyari to plead with him to intervene. The committee members are increasingly worried about the governor’s desperation to secure the $350m world bank loan.
Meanwhile back in the state, the it was revealed that the governor has threatened to drop the wife of the chairman of the house committee on Loans/Aids/Debt Management Mrs Ajayi, who is a special adviser in the state if she doesn’t persuade her husband, Hon Ajayi to play ball.
