Nigerian Minister Blames “Selfish Lawmakers” for Jeoparidizing Chinese Railway Loans

Nigeria’s outspoken Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi accused lawmakers in the House of Representatives of being “selfish” for launching a probe into a 2018 Chinese loan agreement.

Representatives erroneously thought that the waiver of a sovereign immunity clause in the loan contract meant that the country’s sovereignty would be compromised, when in fact that is not the case. Rotimi, in turn, said the whole affair had damaged the country’s reputation in the eyes of the Chinese and suggested that now loans for future railway projects are in jeopardy:

“The loan for Ibadan to Kano (standard gauge railway), up till now we haven’t gotten approval. And at the point (when sovereignty clause controversy) happened, we were just on the verge of getting approval. (The Chinese) withdrew. They’re asking more questions.

“That’s where we are; we’re talking to them. They’ve promised to give us the loan, but at least it’s held us back since June till now. We’ve done seven months. If they had given us money since June, we’ll have gone far. We would have started clearing by now. But imagine seven months wasted because one or some few members of the house of reps went to the public.”

Read more on this story on The Cable website.

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The post Nigerian Minister Blames “Selfish Lawmakers” for Jeoparidizing Chinese Railway Loans appeared first on The China Africa Project.



source https://chinaafricaproject.com/2021/03/31/nigerian-minister-blames-selfish-lawmakers-for-jeoparidizing-chinese-railway-loans/

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