Rivers Govt Approves N25bn Loan To Fund Projects

The Rivers State Executive Council has approved N25billion loan from Zenith Bank for the funding of the Oyigbo-Afam Road, Chokocho-Igbodo Road, the 10th flyover in Port Harcourt and other projects.
The government said the loan would be repaid within eighteen months from the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Approval for the loan was given during the Rivers State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Nyesom Wike at the Government House, Port Harcourt, last Monday.
Briefing journalists on the outcome of the meeting, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, explained that the loan would be used to fund people-oriented projects that would further enhance development in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
Nsirim said projects to be funded with the loan include, the Nabo Graham-Douglas Campus of the Nigerian Law School at Rumueme, Port Harcourt; the Chokocho-Igbodo Road in Etche Local Government Area; and the Oyigbo-Afam Road in Oyigbo Local Government Area.
Others are the construction of new magistrate courts, construction of National Judicial Institute for training of judicial officers in the state that would enhance justice delivery; and the Rumuokwurusi-Elimgbu flyover, which would be the 10th flyover that would be constructed by the Wike’s administration.
“This loan has a repayment period of 18 months, with effect from October, 2021, and to be completed in April, 2023 from the state’s Internally Generated Revenue. The repayment amount is N1, 547, 874, 350.66 monthly.”
The commissioner remarked that all the projects were people-oriented, and were intended to further enhance development in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
He reaffirmed the administration’s avowed commitment to ensure that all projects initiated by the government were completed before the end of the tenure.
Nsirim further maintained that the Wike-led administration would not abandon any project it initiated.
In the same vein, the Commissioner for Works, Elloka Tasie-Amadi, said the N25billion loan was deemed necessary because all the projects it would be used to fund were time-bound.
“The loan was deemed necessary because if you consider all the projects intended to be funded by this loan, for instance, the Oyigbo-Afam Road or the 27-kilometre Chokocho-Igbodo Road, these projects have construction time, which means that it is very important that we commence the projects immediately and take advantage of the coming dry season as well.
“We also have considered the inflationary trend in the country, and found out that we don’t know what the prices of these projects will become if we take much longer time to activate them. So, these considerations have made the Rivers State Government to take this loan from Zenith Bank to fund all these projects.”