Citing claims of misappropriation of public monies, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has requested the World Bank to stop lending to Nigeria’s 36 states.
Every Nigerian, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, owes N396,376.19. Nigeria’s overall public debt increased by 75.27% in Q2 2023 to N87.38 trillion.
In a letter, SERAP urged the World Bank to look into the expenditures of state governors and suggested suspending loans in the event that mismanagement was discovered.
Additionally, the organization wants to stop accepting new loan applications until states provide clear explanations for how they used funds in the past.
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, made the call on Sunday.
It also asked the global lender to “suspend further applications for loans and any other funding to the 36 states until these states can satisfactorily explain details of spending of loans and other facilities obtained from the Bank and its partners.”
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“The World Bank and its partners cannot continue to give loans and other funding to these states where there are credible allegations of mismanagement or diversion of public funds,” the statement read.
“We are concerned that there is a significant risk of mismanagement or diversion of funds linked to the Bank’s investments in many of the country’s 36 states. It is neither appropriate nor responsible lending to give loans to these states only for the loans to be misspent.”
According to SERAP, Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory have a combined public debt of N9.17 trillion, citing figures from the Debt Management Office of the country.
The committee also mentioned that the overall public debt of the Federal Government is N78.2 trillion.
SERAP urged the head of the World Bank to ask Nigeria’s 36 governors for a firm promise to deal with verifiable claims of financial mismanagement or diversion in their individual states.
