Erstwhile Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has charged the Federal Government to urgently provide current information on the $3.3 billion emergency loan it took last August.
The emergency crude repayment loan was to stabilise the naira and foreign exchange market. In a statement, yesterday, the 2023 PDP presidential candidate observed: “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 NNPCL.
“The deal is supposed to be a crude-for-cash loan arranged by the African Export-Import Bank.” He added: “According to information available, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Project Gazelle Funding Limited, is driving the deal, and it was incorporated in the Bahamas.
“The SPV is the borrower, while the NNPCL is the sponsor, with an agreement to pay with crude oil to the SPV to liquidate the loan at an interest rate that is a little over 12 per cent.”
Abubakar further noted: “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 Paradise Papers that involved that country.
“Curiously also, Nigeria’s current barrel produced daily (bdp) is 1.38 million, 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.”
Expressing further concerns, the Wazirin Adamawa stated: “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.”
He added: “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.”
The Guardian
