By Adedapo Adesanya
The approval of a $125 million loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the financing of some capital projects, especially roads in Abia State has been generating mixed reactions.
On Monday, the Governor of Abia State, Mr Alex Otti, announced the loan approval at a monthly media parley in Umuahia, where he added that the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved another loan for the state.
He said the loans have yet to be drawn, but approvals are in place and explained that the next line of action would be for the documentation to be perfected, the loan agreement signed, and conditions to be met.
He said that the government had received offers of loans from commercial banks in the country, but was yet to draw from any of them.
“Of course, we are also financially enlightened as a government that we do not need to draw loans until we need them.
“Any time we have liquidity we will repay so that we don’t continue to accumulate interest,” Mr Otti, a former bank chief, said.
This announcement caused some persons to ask why a Christian state would seek a credit facility from an Islamic bank.
The Governor also disclosed that the state government had just approved bursary awards for all students of Abia origin in different law schools in the country.
He said that the bursary awards were before requests by the students.
Mr Otti also said that the government had started setting up a new scholarship board to help hard-working but indigent students access quality education.
He said that his administration was also considering giving wage awards to the state civil servants to help cushion the effect of the prevailing hardship in the country.
He quelled worries about workers who had not received their salary for some months, which according to him, stood about five per cent of the people are the ones complaining.
Mr Otti, who expressed worry about the over-bloated civil service, said that there were close to 66,000 people on the payroll at the state and local government levels.
He said that the number was initially more than that but was reduced after the verification exercise that was done in the state.
“So, we keep improving, we keep trying to sanitise the system, and we keep working hard to ensure that the welfare of our workers is prioritised,” Mr Otti said.
