An Igbo activist group, the South East Response Team (SOREST) has protested the exclusion of the mainly-Igbo South East geopolitical zone in an infrastructural development plan backed by loans the Federal Government of Nigeria has applied for. The preassure group has threatened to go to court if the South East remains excluded.
Recall that recently, the Federal Government applied for a loan of $22.7B for infrastructural projects cut across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones. But analysis shows the South East wasn’t included.
A quick look shows that Southwest zone will get $200,000,000.00 while South-South, excluding Edo State, will get $4,270,000,000.00.
The North West will get $6,372,000,000.00. The Northeast will get $300,000,000.00 while North Central will get $6,531,000,000 while $5,853,900,000.00 is allocated for general expenses.
In a press conference held in Enugu, the national coordinator of SOREST, Comrade Aku Obidimma stated; “We wish to once more reiterate our call on President Mohammed Buhari, the parliament and the international creditors to immediately put a hold to this transaction.
“Let the project spread for this loan to be reviewed to significantly capture the South East zone. Unless this is done, SOREST will be bound to take every necessary legal step towards ensuring that the loan is not accessed”.