Nigeria-China Loan Deal: Amaechi Evades Question On Hong Kong Being Third Party

Minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday again prevaricated when asked to be explicit on choice of third party in the loan agreement between Nigeria and China.

The minister declined to answer a question thrown at him during a Channels Television programme on why Hong Kong is the third party in one of the loan deals between China and Nigeria.

Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous island region in China. It became an annex of China after the British handed it over in 1999 following the expiration of the fifty year British Control agreement.

In the commercial loan agreement between Nigeria and Export-Import Bank of China, $400 million loan was obtained for Galaxy Backbone, the government’s information and communication technology (ICT) agency.

When he featured on a Channels TV programme on Tuesday, the anchor asked him which country was chosen as the third party for arbitration on the agreement as required by international conventions.

“If you look at convention of this sort of international arbitration when it comes to trade agreements of this nature, there is usually a third party nation in this sense. Which is the third party nation when Nigeria went into this agreement with China?” the anchor asked.

Also Read: Chinese Loan: FG Clears Air On Purported Sovereignty Clause In Agreement

In response, Amaechi asked him, “What do you mean by that? What third party nation,” before adding that “until there is arbitration, you can’t just assume a third party is.”

“What if we don’t go to arbitration? Supposing, by next year, the president gets angry and says, gentlemen, pay off the $400 million that is remaining and that will be the end of that particular loan?” he further asked.

The anchor then said he has an inkling as to what the loan agreement with China entails, and “it does take Hong Kong as the third party in that sense, and Hong Kong is part of China.”

“And that is one of the issues that have been raised over the agreement,” he said.

The minister then queried why he was “interested in who is the third party and who is not the third party?”

“Why do you want to assume that we will default. It becomes criminal when a borrower begins to plan on defaulting,” he said.

Also Read: Reps Raise Alarm Over Loan Deal Conditions Surrendering Nigeria Sovereignty To China

“Why are you not interested in the fact that we have already paid about $98 million; that we meet our obligation every month? So, by the next 10 years that is outstanding, we would have paid the $400 million outstanding.

“Why are you not interested in that? Why are you interested in who is the third party and who is not the third party? And these are standard terms in an agreement. Why?”

When the anchor probed further on why Nigeria allowed China to choose Hong Kong as the third party country, Amaechi responded: “I have answered you.”