IGBO senate leaders have presented President Muhammadu Buhari with a list of demands which they insist must be met before they support his plans to borrow $30bn which the government is seeking to enable it invest in infrastructural development.
Last week, President Buhari asked the National Assembly to approve his plans to borrow $29.9bn externally for investment. However, the request was rejected by senators who said the government did not provide enough details about the plan, so ministers are planning to re-present the bill before the National Assembly.
Yesterday, political leaders from across the southeast geo-political zone met with President Buhari at the presidential villa and listed conditions under which they would back his plans. Their conditions, which focused on the poor state of infrastructure across the Southeast, security and the detention of Independent People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu, demanded among other things, the construction of a rail standard gauge spur from Agbor to Onitsha.
They also asked President Buhari to address the issues of kidnapping, herdsmen and Ipob, as well as the establishment of a dry port in Abia State, Onitsha and Enugu. Igbo leaders also requested a place on the National Security Council, the inclusion of the southeast when concessioning federal roads and airports and the construction of an extra River Basin Development Authority for the zone.
Made up of legislators, the delegation which was led by deputy senate president Senator Ike Ekweremadu and Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe said that the marginalisation of the southeast largely informed their visit. They demanded better funding of federal projects and institutions in the region, arguing that less than 10% of appropriated funds were released annually over last past 10 years.
In addition, they also observed that the Enugu Airport runway had a wrong design and was dilapidated for a facility of its status and asked President Buhari prevail on the transport minister to rehabilitate it. Also, the legislators were irked by the fact that the zone was left out among beneficiaries of the proposed external loan.
Senator Ekweremadu said: “For us from the southeast, we believe that dialogue is better than any other form of engagement. So we decided to visit the president and present to him some of the concerns of the southeast including the issues of roads and infrastructure.
“We also discussed the issue of security with him and of course the issue of Ipob. We had a good conversation and he promised to look into the issues."
According to Senator Ekweremadu, President Buhari told them that governors from across the southeast have also engaged him on the same problems. He added that they were reassured by the response they got from the president and look forward to further interaction with him in this manner.
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