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$114.28m World Bank Loan: SERAP Demands Public Scrutiny, Transparency In Spending
Following World Bank’s approval of $114.28million credit and grant to fight Covid-19 in Nigeria, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the global financial institution to prevail on the federal and 36 state governors to accept voluntary scrutiny by Nigerians and civil society regarding the spending of the funds.
SERAP, in an open letter to the World Bank President, Mr. David Malpass, dated August 8, 2020, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said “the Nigerian government must be made to publicly commit to transparency and accountability in the spending of the fund, including by publishing details on a dedicated website.
“Details of how they will spend the money to buy medical equipment, and improve access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, must also be made public”, SERAP demanded.
The World Bank Board of Directors, had last Friday, approved $114.28million financing “to help Nigeria prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by Covid-19 with a specific focus on state level responses.”
According to the bank, the $100million credit with Project ID number: P173980, is due to be paid back over 30 years, with additional five years grace period.
But SERAP in its letter said “The World Bank has a responsibility to ensure that federal authorities and state governments are transparent and accountable to Nigerians in how they spend the approved credit and grant.
“The bank should tread carefully in the disbursement of funds or distribution of resources to states if it is to reduce vulnerability to corruption and mismanagement.”
SERAP expressed “serious concerns that the money and resources may be stolen, diverted or mismanaged by state governors without effective transparency and accountability mechanisms, especially given increasing reports of allegations of corruption and mismanagement of Covid-19 funds by agencies of the Federal Government and state governments, and impunity of perpetrators.”
SERAP said: “Insisting on transparency and accountability would ensure repayment of the credit, and protect the project objectives and intended purposes for which the funds and resources are approved, disbursed and distributed.”
According to SERAP, “The Bank’s power to provide credits and grants is coupled with a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that governments spending such funds meet international standards of transparency and accountability, including those entrenched in the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party.”
The letter copied to the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, read in part: “Implementing these recommendations would prevent a repeat of alleged diversion and mismanagement of recovered Abacha loot disbursed by the Federal Government to state governments.
“The World Bank should make clear to all the governors that it will cancel the credit and grant should they renege on their transparency and accountability commitments to spend the money and use the resources exclusively for Covid-19 related projects, and not to steal, divert or mismanage them.”
“As the level of Federal Government monitoring of the spending of the credit and grant and use of the resources by state governors may be based on political considerations, the bank’s influence might be the only restraining force state governors will take seriously.
“SERAP encourages you and the World Bank in any future engagements with state governments in Nigeria to insist on accessing information on how governors are spending security votes, and the amounts of public funds states are allocating to pay former governors life pensions, among others, as well as consider the level of corruption within each state before approving any credits and grants.
“SERAP also encourages you and the World Bank not to sacrifice international standards of transparency and accountability in the rush to provide Covid-19 credit and grant to the 36 state governments.
“According to our information, the World Bank Board of Directors on Friday, August 7, 2020 approved $114.28million financing ‘to help Nigeria prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by Covid-19 with a specific focus on state level responses’.
“This includes $100million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) and $14.28million grant from the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility.
“SERAP notes that the Government of Nigeria is expected to disburse the money and distribute the resources to the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as ‘immediate support to break the chain of Covid-19 local transmission and limit the spread of Coronavirus through containment and mitigation strategies.’
“The approved money will also ‘help to finance federal procurements of medical equipment, laboratory tests, and medicines to be distributed to the states based on their needs, and to provide support to laboratories for early detection and confirmation; equipping and renovating isolation and treatment centres, including community support centres; and improving in patient transfer systems through financing of ambulances and training’.”
SERAP, therefore, urged Malpass and the World Bank to: “Disclose and widely publish the terms and conditions of the credit and grant, and the exact amount repayable by Nigeria in 30 years’ time, including the details of the interest, if any; and the consequences of Nigeria defaulting.
“To also ask President Muhammadu Buhari to instruct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to jointly track and monitor spending of the credit and grant by state governments; ask state governments to allow the media to freely report on their spending of the funds and use of the resources, and not to clampdown on journalists and the media in the exercise of their constitutional responsibilities to expose corruption and hold governments to account.
“To also ask state governments to explicitly commit to encouraging and protecting whistle-blowers as a way of ensuring that the funds and resources are not stolen, diverted or mismanaged; clarify if any, to the Bank’s knowledge and information, the credit and grant have been approved by Nigeria’s National Assembly pursuant to its constitutional duties, including its oversight functions under Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“Ensure increased transparency of sanctions and terms and conditions of the credit and grant to each state to enable Nigerians to ask questions as to the spending of the money and use of the resources from their state governments.”
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled attempts by drug trafficking syndicates to smuggle illicit substances concealed in carton walls, winter jackets, and body cream containers through Murtala Muhammed International Airport and a Lagos-based courier firm.
The agency said two consignments bound for Italy were intercepted at the Lagos airport, leading to the arrest of suspects linked to the shipments.
In a statement released yesterday, the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said one of the suspects, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka, was intercepted on Friday, March 20, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Rome, Italy.
The statement partly read, “Two of the consignments heading to Italy were to be moved through the Lagos airport where two suspects linked to the shipments were promptly arrested.
“One of them, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka, was going to Rome, Italy on Friday, March 20, 2026, when he was intercepted while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight with 2,698 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in containers of skin-lightening body cream, all packed in the suspect’s luggage.
“In his statement, Ehianuka, who is a resident of Milan, confirmed that he was to be paid a negotiated fee in Euros if he had succeeded in trafficking the consignment to Italy.”
In another operation on Wednesday, March 18, Babafemi said NDLEA officers at the departure hall intercepted another passenger, Christian Agbonhese, attempting to board a Lufthansa flight to Milan.
A search of his luggage uncovered 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg, 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg, and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg concealed in two large winter jackets.
“No fewer than 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg; 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg; and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg, all concealed in two large winter jackets, bringing the total number of opioids recovered from him to 28,470 pills. The 38-year-old Agbonhese is also a resident of Milan,” the statement added.
In a separate operation at a courier firm in Lagos, Babafemi said NDLEA officers on Monday, March 16, intercepted two parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 1kg, hidden in a carton shipped from the United States.
“Also thwarted was an attempt to export 158 grams of methamphetamine concealed in the walls of a carton to New Zealand,” he said.
In Kano State, operatives arrested Abdulkadir Mamuda, 35, with 102.5kg of skunk at Dan-Tsalle, while another suspect, Uche Johnson Festus, 47, was nabbed at Naibawa Gabas with 95.5kg of the same substance.
Babafemi said the agency also recovered 21,737 bottles of codeine-based syrup during a raid at Otto, Ijora area of Lagos on Wednesday, March 18, adding that two suspects, Chidiebere Anigbogu and Paul Nwagbara, were arrested the same day on the Third Mainland Bridge while conveying 8,380 bottles of the syrup.
In Edo State, operatives recovered 97.5kg of skunk from the residence of Akeem Idde, 37, in Ojah, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area on March 16.
In the FCT, officers intercepted a commercial bus along the Gwagwalada Expressway on March 18, recovering 91,840 pills of tramadol hidden in body compartments of the vehicle. The driver, Aminu Ali, 27, was arrested.
In Oyo State, a suspect, Bankole Bari, was on Tuesday, March 17, arrested at Oke-Oyan, Ibarapa LGA, with 71.2kg of skunk, which he smuggled into Nigeria from Benin Republic through the Oyan River.
In a similar development, “Not less than 586,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered by NDLEA operatives from Lawal Anas, 28, along Kaduna-Zaria Highway, Kaduna, on Tuesday, March 17, while 7,290 tablets of tramadol 225mg were seized from Musa Shuaibu, 22, at the same location on Friday, March 20,” Babafemi said.
In Taraba State, officers intercepted Aliyu Adamu, 26, along the Takum-Jalingo Highway with 77,660 capsules of tramadol, while in Adamawa State, six suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 82.8kg of tramadol in a truck in Yola.
The suspects include Ramatu Aliyu, Jungudo Abdullahi, Najid Abdullahi, Musa Mohammed, Usman Abdulrahim, and Musa Mohammed.
The agency said its commands across the country also intensified War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, and communities during the week.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the MMIA, DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Oyo, FCT, Taraba, and Adamawa commands for the arrests and seizures, urging them to sustain the balanced approach to drug control efforts.
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RSG Applauds FRSC, NDLEA For Enhancing Security In Rivers …As NDLEA Pushes For Drug Tests In Schools, NYSC Camps
The Rivers State Government has commended the dedication and collaboration of federal government agencies in sustaining security in the State.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the State Commander of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), CN Bature Dawa, in Port Harcourt, last week, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Dagogo Wokoma, said Governor Siminalayi Fubara appreciates the strong synergy between the agencies in promoting his administration’s vision of peace, prosperity and progress in the State.
Wokoma urged residents to remain law-abiding, noting that respect for the law is essential for good governance and sustainable development in all parts of the state.
He stated that the governor has remained committed to initiatives that promote peace and social order, stressing that the administration will continue to support programmes of federal agencies aimed at strengthening security and public safety.
“Our governor is committed to peace, progress and prosperity in Rivers State. I therefore encourage all residents, especially young people who are often targeted by those involved in drug abuse, to stay away from drugs, crime and reckless driving,” he said.
In his remarks, the State NDLEA boss, Dawa, disclosed that the agency has arrested 39 suspects in the state from December 2025 to date, including 16 new cases currently under investigation.
He explained that the NDLEA, through its Drug Demand Reduction and Drug Supply Control Units, has intensified efforts to curb the spread of illicit drugs and ensure offenders are brought to justice.
Dawa also called on parents and guardians to closely monitor their children, while urging hotel owners and managers to remain vigilant and prevent their facilities from being used for drug-related activities.
He further advocated the introduction of drug integrity tests in schools and within the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme as part of measures to discourage drug abuse among young people.
In a related development, Dr Wokoma received the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), CC Inyang Umoh, during a courtesy visit, and urged residents to abide by road safety laws and drive in consideration of other road users.
In his remarks, the FRSC boss expressed appreciation to Governor Fubara for the continuous support to the Corps.
Muslims in Rivers State have commended Governor Siminialayi Fubara for his dedication and commitment to the development of the state.
They also lauded the governor for promoting peaceful co-existence among various religious groups in the state.
Vice President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs ,Alhaji Nasil Awhelegbe Uhor, gave the commendation last Friday during the Eid-el Fitri prayer to mark the end of Ramadan fasting period, at the Port Harcourt Central Mosque, Niger Street, Port Harcourt.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the prayer, Alhaji Uhor said Governor Fubara has shown exemplary leadership in the affairs of the state.
Uhor who is the leader of the South South Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, called on Muslims to remain committed to the ideal of peace and fear of the Almighty Allah.
According to the Rivers State Islamic leader, the message is for Muslims to imbibe and allow the lessons of Ramadan to sink into their lives and shape their ways of doing things.
He urged Muslims to imbibe the culture of love and respect for one another.
“My message is that all Muslims should imbibe and allow the lessons of Ramadan to sink with them,” he advised.
Uhor stressed the need for Muslims and all Nigerians to remain patriotic, while avoiding all forms of anti-social behaviours.
He also called on the political leaders to put the country first, stressing that there is no need for Nigerians to continue to wallow in abject poverty when the country is so rich with natural resources.
Also speaking, the Chief Imam of Rivers State, Alhaji Ibrahim S Yalo, urged Muslims to fear God, and speak the truth always.
According to him, time has come for Nigerians to cultivate the habit of peaceful coexistence, speak the truth and be each others keeper.
“Nigerians own a duty to ensure peace, live together in fear of God and speak the truth always,” he said.
By: John Bibor