Shivani Gadhavi
Published On: January 24, 2022 at 18:21 IST
A non-profit organization called Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) recently filed a case against Federal Government of Nigeria and its President Muhammadu Buhari in the Economic Community of West African State’s (ECOWAS) Court of Justice.
The Lawsuit was filed by Lawyers of the SERAP named Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi, who seek for the Federal Government and the President to put a stop on borrowing and taking loans from itself and 36 other states and to conform with Rules and Regulations of International Human Rights.
The Lawsuit stated, “Persistent and unsustainable borrowing by the Federal and State Governments and the crippling debt burden undermines the Rights of Nigerians to economic and social development, and are antithetical to the public interest.”
The Lawsuit stated that the Senate and House of Representatives recently approved the loans of $5.803 billion and a grant component of $10 million under the 2018-2020 External Borrowing (rolling) Plan of the Federal Government.
A Financial Report of the World Bank’s International Development Association proves that the State of Nigeria has a debt exposure of $11.7 billion and that it ranks 5th in the list of the top 10 countries that have a risk of debt exposure. India is among the top 4 Countries in the list and has a risk of debt exposure of $22 billion followed by Bangladesh, Vietnam and Pakistan.
The Lawsuits also read that “The Federal Government and many of the 36 states would seem to be in debt distress or at high risk of debt distress, especially loans from China alone which amount to $3.59 billion.”