World Bank Releases Fresh Loan Conditions To State Governors As Nigeria Borrows $9bn In 3 Years

The World Bank has said that it borrowed Nigeria over $9bn in the last three years for developmental projects with 70 per cent going to sub-nationals.

The Washington-based lender said it is willing to provide more financial assistance to States to eliminate extreme poverty but insisted on its position that every loan taken by governors must be accounted for.

The Country Director of the World Bank for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, said this on Monday at the Induction Programme for Nigerian Governors.

Chaudhuri said, “You have the capacity to make a difference in the lives of the citizens of your states and we at the World Bank are here to support you.

“Nigeria now is the largest programme of the World Bank and over the last three years or so, our Board has approved over $9bn in financing Nigeria’s development and the bulk has flowed through to support multi-state programmes. In fact, about 70 per cent of multi-state programmes are implemented by the States.

“And as most of the governors know, our basic proposition is very simple. We are here to help and support you in delivering for your citizens but it is based on actual delivery. So, the financing flows as the results come and that is the model that we hope to introduce to all the incoming governors and to secure support and help them make progress for Nigeria.

“The future of Nigeria rests in the hands of the governors because you are the ones who can make sure that the youths of Nigeria, the women and children of Nigeria have the future that they deserve.”

The World Bank director emphasized on the lender’s target to help state governors deliver infrastructures for their citizens, adding that the future of Nigerians is in their hands.

According to him, Nigerian governors are the most powerful elected governors he has seen in the course of his career and they have what it takes to change the lives of Nigerians residing in their states.

He said, “The states are central to most if not all what we at the World Bank are trying to help Nigeria make progress on. The states are where the citizens meet the government in terms of what they expect from the government, in terms of basic development services, healthcare, basic education, rural roads, and now electricity access and that is what we at the World Bank are trying to help Nigeria.

“Our mission is to help countries eliminate extreme poverty and make life better and it is the states that need to do that and I have said to all the current governors many times that the future of Nigeria really rests in their hands.

“As it does in other countries where the sub-nationals have made the difference and in some ways the governors in Nigeria are among the most powerful elected officials that I have ever come across in my time in Asia and now Africa.”