Frontline rights group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has described as “too dangerous for governance and very troubling for the Nigerian society”, for Chibuike Amaechi, Nigeria’s Transport Minister, who has had the privilege of serving as Speaker of a State Assembly, served two terms as a State Governor and now in his second term as a Federal Minister to deploy the tact of emotional and sectional blackmail to evade accountability with regards to the quantum of funds invested in the Nigerian railway project.

The group in a statement on Wednesday signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, and Director, National Media Affairs Ms Zainab Yusuf, gave a detailed analysis of the amount of money that have been sunk into the railway project via Chinese loans and how the Minister has refused to account for these funds spent. It also called on the House of Representatives to probe the Minister.

Highlighting its position, HURIWA said: “Major news media, especially social media platforms, have been erupting for some weeks now with reports of bizarre acts of the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Amaechi during an investigative hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements chaired by Hon. Dr. Ossai Nicholas Ossai.

“The Committee is conducting legislative enquiries into the contents, compliance and implementation programmes of all Nigeria’s contractual and bilateral loan agreements with China.

“The preliminary revelations by the Committee on how Nigeria may have been deliberately short-changed by the negotiators, managers of these China loans, and implementers of the projects financed with these loans, forced the Minister to put up a histrionic display before the House Committee just to divert attention and quench the already outraged moral susceptibilities of most Nigerians.

“This regrettable but familiar alleged corrupt tactics has been rightly likened to one of the newest gambit by some members of the Executive Arm of government who see government accountability as a taboo that must be uprooted with blackmail and intimidation. They deploy all sorts of manoeuvres including party influence, sectional and psycho- therapeutic acts to achieve their ugly aims. Nigerians have rightly asked, why is Minister Amaechi threatening Nigerians not to anger the China through this House of Reps enquiry into the contents and implementation of the Chinese loans and contractual agreements?

“Shouldn’t China be interested in the transparent application of the loans? Or is there something more that may have mortgaged the future of Nigerians that Minister Amaechi do not want Nigerians to find out? These and more are questions begging for answers. How can a country continue to advance loans to another country in billions of dollars without any form of interest on the transparent utilization and application of such loans by the borrower?

“When the Minister of Transportation first appeared before the House Committee on Tuesday July 28, 2020. He told the Committee that ‘I have spoken to the Speaker of the House of Representatives to suspend this hearing because it will make China to stop giving Nigeria loan’.

“In other words, the Minister is saying Nigeria has gone deep into China and any attempt to upset China will spell doom for the country? The Minister was also inadvertently asking the National Assembly to suspend the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria so as to please his Chinese masters.

“Does the Minister know the implication of asking the National Assembly to suspend enquiry into Nigeria’s bilateral loans and contractual agreements until he finished taking more loans? This is more like a thief telling the owner of the house not scream until he finishes stealing.

“Mr. Amaechi further told the Committee that he doesn't know anything about loan and in fact he just discovered that there are sovereignty waiver clauses in the loan agreements.

He said, ‘I don’t know anything about loan, I don’t take loans, I only supervise the work, and nothing about loan concerns me’. However, what the Minister failed to tell Nigerians is that all the loan agreements are based on the commercial contracts, which were signed between him and the Chinese contractors. He also failed to inform Nigerians that it was his sole mandate to verify, prepare, sign and issue interim certificates of work done to the contractors before the Ministry of Finance can make payments from the funds, whether loan facilities or counterpart funding.

“What this means is that Minister Ameachi is allegedly solely responsible for the application and utilization of these loans. Does he recognise the full weight of such responsibilities?

“Should Nigerians not ask questions when someone with such an important role in the management and utilization of the loans claim he knows nothing about loans?

“The Minister obviously fell out of luck when his alleged orchestrated deceit was unravelled by the Committee Chairman, who rightly queried the Minister's claim of not knowing anything about the loans. The Ministry of Finance further confirmed that loan negotiations will usually involve the Ministry where the project is domiciled, the Debt Management Office (DMO) and the Ministry of Finance.

“How can a Minister who says he knows nothing about loans, turn around to beg the House Committee to suspend the probe to enable him get more loans from China? Why is Amaechi talking from both sides of his mouth? Why should Nigeria entrust billions of dollars of foreign loans in the hands of a Minister who claimed management such monies do not concern him? If Mr. Rotimi Amaechi doesn't know anything about loan why is he so agitated over the House of Representatives probe?

“It is troubling that a Minister who is obligated by the agreements to verify work done to ensure relevant compliance, sign and issue interim payment certificates to contractors and payment advisory to Ministry of Finance for projects financed by loan facilities to claim he doesn’t know anything about the loans and then allegedly cook up falsehood just evade accountability under the guise that China will get angry with Nigeria. Is Nigeria now a new colony of China?

“Mr. Amaechi also claimed to Nigerians that the waiving of Nigeria’s sovereignty clause in the loan agreements does not matter technically, maintaining that ‘the clause will only empower the Chinese to take-over the assets they built in the event Nigeria is unable to pay back the loans’.

“Nigerians need to ask the Minister to point to any clause either in the loan agreements or the commercial contracts agreements where this so called assets take-over arrangement was stated? Can the Minister explain to Nigerians why him and his co-travellers jettisoned the Federal Government Circular issued by the President through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation on August 11, 2014 on the ‘Protection of Nigeria’s Sovereignty and Corporations from foreign arbitration jurisdictions’? Should an Honourable Minister, who allegedly flagrantly flouts/perverts Presidential Circular on such an important issue such as national sovereignty, receive a pat on the back for attempting to economically and politically mortgage the future of our children?

“The Minister nefariously alleged that the current probe is partisan. This claim is even laughable coming from a Minister of ruling party with majority in both House of Reps and the Senate. But the real question is, should we reduce government accountability and constitutionally mandated legislative oversight to a mere partisan discussion?

“How can the probe be partisan when the motion that led to the Committee’s latest enquiries in the loans and commercial contracts were unanimously adopted by the entire House of Representatives at plenary?

“What is partisan about a committee of the House conducting its constitutional responsibility in line with sections 62, 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?

“How can the probe be partisan when loan agreements signed even under Presidents Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and President Buhari are all part of the review process?

“Why is Mr. Amaechi not telling Nigerians that one of the loan agreements being probed in his Ministry was taken under President Jonathan’s administration in 2010 to which he had carried out several levels of variations on? These facts completely nullifies the so called partisan claims, Mr. Amaechi is using as plea bargain to escape accountability? Nigerians are not fools, Mr. Amaechi’s aimless quest to seek shelter under a partisan hat is rather comical and an insults to the collective sensibilities of Nigerians.

“His call for the Speaker of the House of Representatives to stop Hon. Ossai Ossai from carrying on with the investigative hearing is deliberate attempt to truncate democracy and extinguish the legislative arm of government.

“How exactly did Hon. Dr. Ossai Ossai tried to stop development of railway project in the South-South region through his Committee responsibilities?”

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