The World Bank Inspection Panel has been asked to probe allegations of corruption in the spending of the loans and other funding facilities obtained by the Federal Government, FG, and Nigeria’s 36 state governors and to review the implementation of all Bank-funded projects by successive governments since 1999.
The request came from a Lagos-based rights group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, which equally prayed to the Inspection Panel to determine the extent to which Bank Management has followed or is following the World Bank's operational policies and procedures applicable to the design, appraisal, and implementation of all Bank-financed projects in Nigeria.
The group, in a statement issued by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, urged the panel to determine the effect of any failure by the Bank Management to effectively implement its operational policies and procedures in all Bank-funded projects in several states on the social and economic rights and well-being of millions of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians.
SERAP's request came sequel to theDebt Management Office, DMO’s, report last week, that Nigeria’s total public debt stock, including external and domestic debts, increased by ₦24.33 trillion in three months alone, from ₦97.34 trillion ($108.23 billion) in December 2023 to ₦121.67 trillion ($91.46 billion) as of March 31, 2024.
Referencing its letter dated June 22, 2024, the organisation stated that “the World Bank has over the years reportedly approved 197 projects for Nigeria, totalling over $36 billion in loans and other funding facilities [that is, $36,360,415,968.81], with little or no impact on Nigerians living in poverty.
“Nigerians are rarely informed and meaningfully and effectively consulted about several of these loans, facilities and Bank-funded projects. Nigerians continue to be denied the benefits of loans and facilities and access to basic public goods and services.
“Despite several loans and other funding facilities provided by the World Bank over many years, millions of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians in several states and communities continue to lack access to regular electricity supply and have denied the benefit of renewable energy solutions.”
SERAP's complaint, addressed to the Chairman of the panel, read in part: “A recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, revealed that over 133 million Nigerians are living in poverty, the majority of them women and children.
“We would therefore be grateful if the recommended measures are taken to hold the World Bank to account.
“The apparent failure by the Bank Management to diligently follow the World Bank’s operational policies and procedures in Bank-funded projects have resulted in the alleged mismanagement of the loans and facilities and exposed millions of Nigerians to extreme poverty.”
While raising the concern about what it termed the negative impact of the lack of transparency and accountability in the spending of loans and facilities obtained by the Federal Government and Nigeria’s 36 state governors on the social and economic well-being of millions of Nigerians and the enjoyment of their human rights, SERAP stated that it is also concerned that several Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT reportedly owe civil servants’ salaries and pensions, adding that several states are borrowing to pay salaries and that millions of Nigerians resident in these states and the FCT continue to be denied access to basic public goods and services.
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