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Briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fasola stated that the loan would enable the state government to meet its infrastructural needs. Specifically speaking, Fasola who is the immediate past governor of the State said that the loan was initially $600 million, revealing that the agreement was made in 2011.
According to him, it was agreed that the money would be released in tranches if $200 yearly but suffered delays due to political differences between the state government and the the previous PDP led federal government.
His words:
“The point to make is that this is not a new loan. It is a segment of a programme of developmental initiatives and it was approved in 2010 with a total sum of $600 million for Lagos State to be disbursed in tranches of 200 million each year starting from 2011-2013.
“But it suffered delays as a result of partisan political differences in the last dispensation. After the first tranch was disbursed, there was a freeze on the second tranch. The initial agreements we had with the World Bank was a 40-year loan, a 10-year moratorium, 0.5 percent interest. “But because of the delays that subsequently characterised the partisan interference that took place, our profile as a nation also changed. We had become a bigger economy although money was being lent to us not now as a highly indebted nation anymore. So by the time this one was approved now because of the delays, we had lost the opportunity of 40 years as it is now a loan of 25 years.
“The moratorium has reduced to five years instead of 10 years. The interest rate had gone up to 2.5 percent, but what is still heart-warning about it is that it helps to finance infrastructure. Fasola who expressed gratitude to the present regime of president Mohammed Buhari for facilitating the process remarked that the loan would make life easy for the people.