New Telegraph

Rivers gets nod for N25bn Zenith Bank loan for projects

The Rivers State Government is set to obtain a loan of N25 billion from Zenith Bank for the execution of projects, and repayable in 18 months with internally generated revenue from the state.

Approval for the loan was given during the Rivers State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike at the Government House, Port Harcourt yesterday.

 

The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, who briefed journalists after the meeting, explained that the loan would be used to fund people-oriented projects that will further enhance development in all the nooks and crannies of the state.

 

Nsirim said projects to be funded with the loan include the Nabo Graham-Douglas Campus of the Nigerian Law School at Rumueme, Port Harcourt, the Chokocho-Igbodo Road in Etche Local Government Area, and the Oyigbo- Afam Road in Oyigbo Local Government Area.

 

Others are the construction of new magistrate courts, construction of judicial institute for training judicial officers in the state that will enhance justice delivery, and the Rumuokwurusi- Elimgbu flyover, which will be the tenth flyover that will be constructed by the governor.

 

The commissioner said: “This loan has a repayment period of 18 months, with effect from October 2021, and to be completed in April 2023 from the state’s internally generated revenue.

 

The repayment period is N1, 547, 874, 350.66 monthly.” Nsirim remarked that all these wide range of the projects were peopleoriented and intended to further enhance development in all the nooks and crannies of the state.

 

He noted that the state government would ensure that all projects are completed before the end of the Wike administration rather than abandon any project it initiated. In the same vein, the Commissioner for Works, Elloka Tasie- Amadi, said the N25 billion loan was deemed necessary because all the projects it would be used to fund are time bound.

 

“The loan was deemed necessary because if you consider all the projects intended to be funded by this loan, for instance, the Oyigbo-Afam Road or the 27 kilometer Chokocho- Igbodo Road, these projects have construction time, which means that it is very important that we commence the projects immediately and take advantage of the coming dry season as well.

 

“We also have considered the inflationary trend in the country and found out that we don’t know what the prices of these projects will become if we take much longer to activate them.

 

“So, these considerations have made the Rivers State Government to take this loan from Zenith Bank to fund all these projects.”

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