From Simon Utebor, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has gotten the House of Assembly’s approval to get another N17 billion loan from multiple sources to fund his administration’s policies and programmes.
The House of Assembly expeditiously granted the approval yesterday upon return from its long vacation.
Checks at the official website of the Debt Management Office (DMO) shows that the state’s debt profile as at June 30 stood at N150.05 billion, while as at March 31, the debt stock was N154.951,999,955.49, indicating a marginal decline.
The Assembly, on March 3, gave approval for Diri to borrow N2.9 billion from commercial banks to buy cars for himself and top government officials.
The approval followed a motion by House Leader Monday Obolo (Southern Ijaw II) and seconded by Charles Daniel (Brass I).
Diri, in two letters – October 26 and November 9, 2020 – addressed to the Speaker of the House, sought the House’ approval to access a N4 billion Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) counterpart fund and a N10 billion facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to develop oil palm potential.
In another letter, the governor also urged the House to approve N3 billion as a revolving temporary credit facility, with a 12-month tenor to fund the financing gap when there is a shortfall in monthly revenue accruing to the state.
The House also approved the governor’s request to appoint 10 additional special advisers.
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