A former Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba on Wednesday defended borrowing by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari saying it was inevitable and not a sin.
The ex-Minister also said he does not have a recommendation for the Federal Government on th national minimum wage until he see the books and would not make any promise of what he would pay if he becomes Governor of Edo State.
“I have to see the books to make a commitment. I cannot just say because I want to be a governor, I stand here and tell you that the minimum wage is going to be a N100,000 or N200,000. For now, I cannot have a recommendation, until I see the books”, he said.
Agba stated these in an interview with journalists at the Headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, shortly after submitting his Expression of Interest Form for the Edo State Governorship election in scheduled for September 21.
While promising to do better than other aspirants because of his experience in both the private and public sectors, the former Minister disagreed that the government of Buhari was notorious for unnecessary borrowing and semantics.
Agba said, “What are you borrowing for? If you are borrowing for consumption, you are not going to be able to pay back because when you borrow, it implies that you are going to pay back. If you look at the borrowing from Buhari’s government, you also have to look at the source of the borrowing and conditions for borrowing. They were not commercial loans.
“For commercial loans, you will pay maybe 20 per cent or 30 per cent interest rate. These were very long-term loans with good conditions. And the highest of it, if I remember, was about 2.5 per cent. You have a moratorium of between five to 20 years to pay, depending on what it is. Some of those or most of it is that, if you didn’t take that money to build rail or do that road project, when you want to do it, in five or ten years time, you will be paying more for it because of the value of money. Is it not better to take the money and pay at 2.5 per cent whereas inflation rate is at 26.6 per cent. Is that not a dash? So, borrowing is not a sin.”
On whether he believes that Buhari’s government was known for semantics
Agba said, “Delivering on National Development Agenda 2050? Is that semantics? That was what I was assigned. Did it deliver on the National Development Plan 2012 to 2025? During my time, did the budget start from 31st to 1st January? Was I going out monitoring projects? I just told you about the app that we put in place. And I have encouraged you to sign into. Is that semantics? I was a Commissioner in Edo State. I did the designs of our primary and secondary drains.
“The contracts that we did was because we understand the environment. They are responsible for primary drains. We did our urban renewal programs and expanded our roads. All these roads were federal roads. Airport Road in Benin, we change it from a single carriage way to a dual carriage way, six lanes. The primary drains on that road are 22 feet deep.
“In Sapele Road, another federal road, it was a single carriage way. But we expanded it again. And made it six lanes with primary and secondary drains. For Akpakpava Road and New Lagos Road, it’s the same thing. At Ugbowo Road, it’s the same thing.
“Look at what you used to call Ring Road in Benin. There was a motor park. There was a market. They were selling garri, vegetables and recharge cards with about five motor parks in the Central Business District of the Heartbeat of Nigeria.”
Friday Olokor, Abuja
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