{"id":5477,"date":"2020-08-11T10:24:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T09:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=5477"},"modified":"2020-08-11T10:24:34","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T09:24:34","slug":"did-jonathan-collect-loan-from-china-for-abuja-kaduna-railway-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/did-jonathan-collect-loan-from-china-for-abuja-kaduna-railway-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Jonathan Collect Loan From China for Abuja-Kaduna Railway Project?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the din over Nigeria’s compounding debt profile towards China, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, claimed, on Channels TV<\/a>, that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan collected loans from China during his administration; and that one of the loans collected by the Jonathan administration was used for the Abuja-Kaduna railway project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The two claims are true. It is true that ex-President Jonathan signed loan agreements with China and that one of the loans was used to fund the Abuja-Kaduna railway project.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The loan agreements between Nigeria and China have recently been a matter of controversy among concerned Nigerians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, a House of Representatives panel raised concerns over a clause in one of the loan agreements with Export-Import Bank of China conceding Nigeria\u2019s sovereignty<\/a> to China if the country defaults.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reaction to this, the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, explained that the clause \u2018waiving sovereignty\u2019 in the loan agreement is only a contract term<\/a>, a sovereign guarantee that assures payback according to the terms and conditions of any loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, while featuring as a guest on AIT<\/a> on Thursday, July 30, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Katch Ononuju, accused Amaechi of perpetrating fraud under the guise of securing loans for the railway projects and asked him to resign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ononuju also asked the federal government to apologise to Nigerians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to Ononuju\u2019s allegations in an interview with Channels TV<\/a> on Tuesday, August 4, Amaechi claimed that the PDP government, specifically the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, also took loans from China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThere\u2019s a gentleman who went to AIT, and said \u2018oh I should resign\u2019 and I wonder which university he graduated from, certainly not University of Port Harcourt.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe said I should resign. Resign from what? Are you saying those projects weren\u2019t executed? Is there no Kaduna-Abuja railway?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy the way, he said he is a PDP; that loan was taken under President Goodluck Jonathan\u2019s government.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe loan he\u2019s talking about, the Kaduna-Abuja railway, was signed by the President Goodluck Jonathan government,\u201d <\/em>the minister said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Verification<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Claim one:<\/strong> Jonathan collected loan from China<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To check the veracity of the transport minister’s claim that ex-President Jonathan collected loan from China, Legit.ng<\/strong> surfed the website of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) for relevant documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DMO is the government agency established to centrally coordinate the management of Nigeria’s debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A document by the DMO tagged \u201cStatus of Loan Obtained from China Exim as at March 31\u201d, 2020, covers the loans borrowed from China Exim<\/a> from the Nigerian government so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the document, as at the end of March 2020, Nigeria has eleven active loan agreements with China Exim Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the 11 loan agreements, six were signed between 2010 and 2013. Jonathan was Nigeria’s president from May 6, 2010 to May 29, 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first loan agreement on the DMO document, Nigerian National Public Security Communication System Project ($399.50 million) was signed on December 20, 2010, under Jonathan’s administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are five other loan agreements with China signed under the tenure of the former president listed in the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claim two:<\/strong> The loan collected by Jonathan was for the Kaduna-Abuja railway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amaechi also claimed that one of the loans collected by the Jonathan administration was used to fund the Abuja-Kaduna railway project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DMO document also indicates that a $500 million loan agreement<\/a> for Nigerian Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna) was signed on December 20, 2010; also under Jonathan’s administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, a fact-check by TheCable<\/a> also confirms that the construction of the Abuja-Kaduna railway project began in 2011 when Jonathan was the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The claim by the transport minister that ex-President Jonathan also took loans from China is true.\u00a0It is equally true that one of the loan agreements signed by the Jonathan administration was meant for the Abuja-Kaduna railway project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This fact-check is a republished article from Legit.ng per our Dubawa 2020 Fellowship partnership with newsrooms and media organisations.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the din over Nigeria’s compounding debt profile towards China, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, claimed, on Channels TV, that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan collected loans from China during his administration; and that one of the loans collected by the Jonathan administration was used for the Abuja-Kaduna railway project. The two claims are true. It is true that ex-President Jonathan signed loan agreements with China and that one of the loans was used to fund the Abuja-Kaduna railway project.\u00a0 Full Text The loan agreements between Nigeria and China have recently been a matter of controversy among concerned Nigerians. Recently, a House of Representatives panel raised concerns over a clause in one of the loan agreements with Export-Import Bank of China conceding Nigeria\u2019s sovereignty to China if the country defaults.\u00a0 In reaction to this, the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, explained that the clause \u2018waiving sovereignty\u2019 in the loan agreement is only a contract term, a sovereign guarantee that assures payback according to the terms and conditions of any loan. However, while featuring as a guest on AIT on Thursday, July 30, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Katch Ononuju, accused Amaechi of perpetrating fraud under the guise of securing loans for the railway projects and asked him to resign. Ononuju also asked the federal government to apologise to Nigerians. Responding to Ononuju\u2019s allegations in an interview with Channels TV on Tuesday, August 4, Amaechi claimed that the PDP government, specifically the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, also took loans from China. He said: \u201cThere\u2019s a gentleman who went to AIT, and said \u2018oh I should resign\u2019 and I wonder which university he graduated from, certainly not University of Port Harcourt. \u201cHe said I should resign. Resign from what? Are you saying those projects weren\u2019t executed? Is there no Kaduna-Abuja railway? \u201cBy the way, he said he is a PDP; that loan was taken under President Goodluck Jonathan\u2019s government. \u201cThe loan he\u2019s talking about, the Kaduna-Abuja railway, was signed by the President Goodluck Jonathan government,\u201d the minister said. Verification Claim one: Jonathan collected loan from China To check the veracity of the transport minister’s claim that ex-President Jonathan collected loan from China, Legit.ng surfed the website of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) for relevant documents. The DMO is the government agency established to centrally coordinate the management of Nigeria’s debt. A document by the DMO tagged \u201cStatus of Loan Obtained from China Exim as at March 31\u201d, 2020, covers the loans borrowed from China Exim from the Nigerian government so far. According to the document, as at the end of March 2020, Nigeria has eleven active loan agreements with China Exim Bank. Out of the 11 loan agreements, six were signed between 2010 and 2013. Jonathan was Nigeria’s president from May 6, 2010 to May 29, 2015. The first loan agreement on the DMO document, Nigerian National Public Security Communication System Project ($399.50 million) was signed on December 20, 2010, under Jonathan’s administration. There are five other loan agreements with China signed under the tenure of the former president listed in the document. Claim two: The loan collected by Jonathan was for the Kaduna-Abuja railway. Amaechi also claimed that one of the loans collected by the Jonathan administration was used to fund the Abuja-Kaduna railway project. The DMO document also indicates that a $500 million loan agreement for Nigerian Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna) was signed on December 20, 2010; also under Jonathan’s administration. Meanwhile, a fact-check by TheCable also confirms that the construction of the Abuja-Kaduna railway project began in 2011 when Jonathan was the president. Conclusion The claim by the transport minister that ex-President Jonathan also took loans from China is true.\u00a0It is equally true that one of the loan agreements signed by the Jonathan administration was meant for the Abuja-Kaduna railway project. This fact-check is a republished article from Legit.ng per our Dubawa 2020 Fellowship partnership with newsrooms and media organisations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[120,4,123],"tags":[1192,1194,347,1193],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[1191],"class_list":["post-5477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-featured","category-mainstream","tag-abuja-kaduna-railway","tag-chinese-loans","tag-featured","tag-foreign-loans"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-1ql","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":1191,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"nurudeen-lawal","display_name":"Nurudeen Lawal","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe9d8255c29267c0b5fd9b1c07dc5ca3bcb33feac769e1d1e2af515ff3ddadc8?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"Lawal","first_name":"Nurudeen","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Abuja-Kaduna-rail.png?fit=640%2C400&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5477"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=5477"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}