ABUJA- Dr Shamsudeen Usman, the Minister of Finance, has challenged international development partners to show evidence for the N421 billion (3.6 billion dollars) spent on various projects.
Shamsudeen gave the charge on the occasion of the 2nd Annual Review Meeting of the World Bank (WB), African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) assisted projects.
He said the ministry was already working on a programme to give award to donors that have clear evidence of making an impact on the lives of the people.
Shamsudeen said all development efforts must be aligned with the priorities of the government in realising the seven-point agenda, the MDG’s and the Vision 2020.
The Minister said he had been inundated with calls that the country was already sliding into another debt burden by collecting loans from various multilateral institutions.
“ Nigeria is not sliding into an unsustainable debt position.
Nigeria does not take non-concessionary loans. All the loans we take have long term payment conditions, sometimes, with zero interest rate,’’ he said.
Shamsudeen said the states had started adopting the fiscal responsibility and procurement principle that would ensure transparency and prudence in spending.
Earlier, the World Bank country Director, Mr. Onno Ruhl, had said that there was a need to justify the money spent on development by showing more evidence.
Ruhl said the World Bank had projects worth about N374 billion (3.2 billion dollars) in various parts of the country.
A break down of the donors’ contribution made available at the review meeting showed that the World Bank had 34 projects worth N374 billion (3.2 billion dollars), AfDB, 10 projects worth N11.7 billion (1 billion dollars) and IDB, one project worth N3.5 billion (30 million dollars).
Similarly, IFAD had 4 projects valued at N9.4 billion (80 million dollars).
|
