Taraba Assembly approves gov Kefas request to access 206bn loan
By Terna Chikpa, Jalingo
Taraba State House of Assembly on Friday approved the request of governor Agbu Kefas to access a loan facility of N206.776,000,000 from four Nigeria commercial Banks
In a letter sent to the house and read by the speaker, Hon. John Kizito Bonzena, dated July 2, 2023, explained that the loan is to enable the state governor embark on developmental activities for the state.
The letter read, “Request for approval to enable the State Government access loan facilities of N206.776,000,000 from four commercial banks
“Mr Speaker, Hounourable members, one of the cardinal points of my administration is to entrench good governance and improve the livelihood of our people. Accordingly, my administration is desirous of providing massive infrastructural development across the State as well as payment of outstanding gratuities to the retirees of our dear state.
“Mr Speaker, Honourable Members may wish to note that, despite the above beautiful desires of my administration for our State, we are faced with the challenge of financial constraint affecting the State against meeting up with my administration’s strategic five finger development Agenda.
“Consequently, Honourable Members, Executive Council resolved to access loan facilities to the total tune of N206,776,000,000 naira only from the following four financial institutions as follows:
(1) Zenith Bank Plc: N83.3 Billion
(ii) UBA Plc: N50 Billion
(iii) Fidelity Bank Plc: N50 Billion
(iv) Key Stone Bank Plc N23.476 Billion
“The Security of the facility from Zenith Bank Plc shall be deductions from FAAC, Security for the facility from UBA Plc shall be deductions from JAAC, while Security for the facility from Fidelity Bank shall be deductions from VAT and the Security for the facility from Key Stone Bank shall be deductions from IGR.
“The interest rate for the facilities shall be 18 per cent with administrative charges at 5 per cent deductible offront, the tenor of the facilities is four years. Other conditions of the facilities shall be forwarded to the Honourable House by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning.
“Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, for the avoidance of doubt, the above listed facilities if secured by the State Government, the funds shall be channeled to develop the following critical sectors of the State, viz
(i) Education: N50 Billion
(ii) Agriculture: N30 Billion
(iii) Health: N30 Billion
(iv) Security: N30 Billion
(V) Infrastructural Development: N40 Billion
(vi) Micro-Finance Bank: N5 Billion
(vii) House of Assembly: N5 Billion
(viii) Judiciary: N5 Billion
(ix) Women Affairs: N2 Billion
(X) Digital Economy: N2 Billion
(Xi) Waste Management: N2 Billion
(xii) Other Sectors: N5.476 Billion
“Honourable Members, I therefore on the basis of the foregoing, invite the Honourable Members to grant approval to enable the State Government access the above facilities in the best interest of the citizenry,” it read.
Meanwhile, the house however approved that 5bn, from the approved loan be set aside to settle gratuity and enroll more local government retirees into the state pension payroll.
Our correspondent reports that the house also passed into law, the Taraba state 2023 supplementary budget of N206,776,000,000, bringing the total budget to 380,0105,37,459.40
