Ugwuanyi bridges Enugu infrastructural deficit with N14.2bn credit facility

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is taking the Federal Government  N14.2 billion loan facility through the Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN,to spur infrastructural development of Enugu State.

• Gov Ugwuanyi

Ugwuanyi approached the state House of Assembly, last week, for approval to procure two separate loans from the CBN.

The details show that N10 bn  is for infrastructural projects  and N4.207bn  for the payment of the arrears of pensions and salaries owed public servants.

The loans are part of the  arrangement of the Federal Government to assist  state governments out of their financial challenges  arising from  the global glut in the  oil market.

The decision to give loans up to  N10bn to state governments  interested  was reached at the June 2015 meeting of the National Economic Council,NEC. Following that decision, the CBN, on September 1, wrote to  the Nigeria Governors’ Forum,NGF, requesting the governors interested in the loan to file applications.

STEPS TO PROCURE LOAN

The Enugu government began the process to procure the loans through two separate Executive Council,EXCO, memos from  the state Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Mrs. Eucharia Offor, deliberated upon during the council meeting of September 21 .

Same day, the state House of Assembly sat and, among other issues, deliberated on a motion on notice presented by the Leader of the House, Ikechukwu Ezugwu, seeking the approval of the loans.

The House, through a Motion on Notice,HM/03/2015, passed a resolution authorising the state government to obtain the N14.2billion loans.

The loan carries single interest rate of nine percent and 20 years repayment period.

CRITICAL AREAS OF INFRASTRUCTRAL NEED

Penocks-NOWAS-Timber Shed-T-Junction-Ugwuogo-Nike and Abakpa Junction-Liberty-T-Junction roads, earmarked by the governor for rehabilitation and dualization, are a sore point in Enugu metropolis.

Ugwuanyi had, in his maiden tour immediately after assumption of office, announced the intention of his administration to end motorists’ pain occasioned by traffic gridlock on both roads.

Major artery to the Enugu-North senatorial zone following the construction of the Ugwogo-Nike-Opi Junction-Nsukka road, the roads, if rehabilitated and dualized,will reduce manhours wasted in transit, cut  the cost of farm produce and increase the cost of landed properties along that flank and open the area as an investment destination when compared to the saturated metropolis and trigger economic activities along that corridor.

Sunday Vanguard checks revealed that a journey of 10 minutes from T-junction to any part of the metropolis takes an energy,economic and time-sapping hours.

A cross section of Enugu residents interviewed expressed support  for the governor’s resolve to rehabilitate and dualize the roads. Whereas Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority,ECTDA, has posted notices on walls of  owners, asking  them to remove property that may obstruct the project,residents are itchy to see earth moving machines mobilized to site.

Meanwhile, Sunday Vanguard learnt that Enugu Transport Company,ENTRACO; Institute of Management and Technology,IMT; Water Corporation; Daily Star,among others, will benefit from the bail-out funds.

Funds from the bailout will also be used to complete the Enugu International Conference Centre,ICC.

Having reached 80 per cent completion,the ICC commissioning promises to boost  tourism,hospitality and culture in Enugu.