Falana Vows To Sue FG Over $3.5 Billion World Bank, AfDB Loans

Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, has said he would bring legal action against the federal government over its insistence on borrowing a whopping sum of $3.5 billion from the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Falana said he would commence legal proceedings with a view to compelling the federal government to recover over $66.5 billion recoverable loans, royalties, levies and revenues it was currently being owed.

He disclosed this in a short statement he personally signed yesterday alongside a letter addressed to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, over the federal government’s plan to borrow $3.5 billion to fund 2016 budget.

As contained in his statement, Falana said since the federal government “have not deemed it fit to react to the serious issues raised in the letter, kindly be informed that we shall commence legal proceedings not later than February 29, 2015.”

The senior advocate added that he would initiate legal action with a view to compelling the federal government “to recover the said loans, royalties, levies and other recoverable revenues of not less than $66.5 billion.”

In the letter he addressed to the minister on February 5, Falana listed recoverable revenues, loans, royalties and levies, which he said, different banks, oil firms and pampered members of the ruling class were owing the federal government.

He cited five cycles of independent audit reports of the National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which he said, put the country’s potential recoverable revenues payable to the Federation Account at $20.22 billion.

He, also, cited the sum of $7 billion, which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) apportioned “to 14 Nigerian banks to “manage” out of the nation’s external reserves on October 4, 2006. The amount involved represented 18.39 per cent of the total external reserves at the material time.