Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in last year’s general elections, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday called on President Bola Tinubu to remove the secrecy surrounding the recent $3.3 billion oil-for-debt deal the federal government entered with AfreximBank.
Atiku joins a horde of other individuals and organisations like the Oslo-based Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which on Tuesday demanded more information on the agreement.
In a statement he personally signed, Atiku recalled that the federal government last year, precisely on August 16, 2023 through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) secured the $3.3 billion emergency crude repayment loan, which according to the NNPC, was to help give support to the Naira and stabilise the foreign exchange market.
“The curious thing about this transaction is that up till now, the federal government continues to keep mum about it, and the only information available to the public on the mega deal is coming only through unofficial sources from the NNPC,” the former number two man in Nigeria stated.
The deal, he continued, is supposed to be a crude-for-cash loan arranged by the African Export-Import Bank, while according to information available, a Special Purpose Vehicle (APC) called Project Gazelle Funding Limited incorporated in the Bahamas is driving.
The SPV, Atiku emphasised, is the borrower while the NNPC is the sponsor, with an agreement to pay with crude oil to the SPV in order to liquidate the loan at an interest rate that is a little over 12 per cent.
“What is even more confounding about this deal is why the federal government would register a company in the Bahamas, knowing full well the recent scandal of the Paradise Papers that involved that country.
“Curiously also, Nigeria’s current barrels produced daily is 1.38 million bpd, and according to the Project Gazelle deal, Nigeria is to supply 90,000 barrels of its daily production, starting from 2024 till it is up to 164.25 million barrels for the repayment of the loan.
“Now, this is where the details get disturbing because Nigeria’s benchmark for the sale of crude per barrel in 2024 is $77.96. A simple multiplication of that figure by 164.25 will give us a whooping $12 billion,” Atiku said.
Atiku stated that it is on this note that he is calling on the federal government to speak up on the “shady” deal.
According to him, it is inconceivable that the federal government will lead the country to take a loan of $3.3 billion with an interest rate that is not more than 12 per cent, but with estimated repayment amounting to $12 billion.
He maintained that it will constitute a humongous differential of about $7 billion between what is in the details of the deal on paper and what indeed is the reality.
“There are questions to be answered on the integrity of this deal, and we earnestly request the federal government to talk directly on these cloudy details behind the deal.
“We therefore demand, on behalf of the ordinary people of Nigeria, that the federal government provides answers to the following questions: Has the federal government accessed the loan?
“ Is the loan in the government’s borrowing plan as approved by the National Assembly? Who are the parties to the loan, and what specific roles are they expected to play?
“What are the conditions to the loan, including tenor, repayment terms, the collateral, and the interest rate? And, lastly, why register an SPV in the Bahamas knowing the recent scandal of the country’s notoriety for warehousing unclean assets?,” Atiku queried.
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
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