NGO Seeks Reopening of China Loan Probe in Court

A non-governmental organisation, the Incorporated Trustees of Citizens Right and Control Initiative has asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to request the House of Representatives to reopen its investigation into the Nigerian government’s external loans and commercial agreements.

As part of an application for judicial review for an order of mandamus, the group wants the Speaker of the House of Representatives to lift the indefinite suspension on the investigation and examination of external loans and commercial agreements between Nigeria and other countries, particularly China, as a breach of the constitution.

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The NGO is contending that the suspension of the House of Representatives Committee on Treaties, Protocols, and Agreements is a breach of Section 88(1), (a), and (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

It is therefore asking the court to order the speaker to lift the suspension of the activities of the committee to enable it to conclude its activities on external loans and commercial agreements between Nigeria and other countries, especially China.

Counsel to the NGO, Godwin Ogboji Esq informed the court that the suspension of the probe of the loans by the committee through an announcement by the Majority Leader of the House, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, was a breach of its fundamental right to hold an opinion as guaranteed under Section 39 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution.

In an affidavit attached to the lawsuit, the group describes how the action was brought because of the complaints regarding the agreement between the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Finance and the Export-Import Bank of China as lender, dated September 5, 2018.