President Muhammadu Buhari asked the finance ministry on Monday to explain why a $1 billion Chinese loan for a rail line was redirected to other projects.
Only $400 million of the loan granted by the Export-Import Bank of China to build a rail track from Nigeria’s two largest cities, Lagos and Kano, still remained at the finance ministry, Buhari’s office said in an e-mailed statement after a meeting with the permanent secretary of the transport ministry. The loan had been diverted “to other purposes,” according to the statement.
“I hope that due process was followed before such diversions were carried out,” Buhari said. “Taking money from one project to another has to be done properly.”
Buhari, who took office on May 29 after defeating Goodluck Jonathan in March elections, pledged during his campaign to clamp down on corruption. Many infrastructure plans in Nigeria have stalled or been abandoned as past governments have failed to meet counter party funding obligations on some projects, he said in the statement.