Rivers Assembly grant Gov Wike N9bn loan request

The Rivers State House of Assembly has granted the request of Governor Nyesom Wike to access a nine billion naira loan from the Zenith Bank.

The approval followed a correspondence to the Legislature from Governor Wike.

The governor in his request stated that the loan was to fund the renovation of General Hospitals and Government Secondary Schools across the state.

According to the request read by the Speaker of the House, Adams Dobotorudima, the loan facility will be serviced with the about three billion naira yearly earnings from the investment of the Rivers state Government in Indorama.

The request reads in part, “Apart from the ongoing capital intensive projects, we have concluded plans to rehabilitate some hospitals and additional secondary schools.

“These important projects connot be delivered or well-funded on schedule unless we are able to secure or attract additional funds from other legitimate sources as enabled under the 2016 Approriation Act.

“Subsequently, we have approached Zenith Bank Plc. to provide us with a loan of 9 billion naira to enable us deliver on our 2016 Capital projects.

“The loan will be secured on the state’s annual dividend earnings of not less than N3.2billion from our shareholding interest in Indorama Eleme Fertiliser and Petrochemical Limited with effect from the 3rd Quarter of 2016 to 2019.”

The Lawmakers during debate encouraged the Governor to access the loan since it was meant to fund capital projects in the 2016 Appropriation Law.

The request was approved after a unanimous vote by the Lawmakers who were present at the sitting.