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A House of
Representatives report has cited Anthony Ani, the minister of finance
under the regime of Sani Abacha, for culpability in a multibillion
naira loan which remained unserviced for over a decade, leaving high
interest bill for the government to clear.

Between 1994 and
1998, according to the summary of the report just made public, Mr. Ani,
as the finance minister, approved over N7billion loan for federal
housing projects, but failed to insist on the repayment of the loan.

The major
beneficiary of the funds, the Federal Housing Authority, the report
adds, also made no effort to service the loan. The managing director of
the FHA at the time, Ibrahim Ali, was scolded along with Mr. Ani by the
lawmakers as acting not “in the best interest of the nation.” Efforts
made to speak with Messrs Ani and Ali during the holidays were not
successful.

“Henceforth, public
officials who commit government into any business or agreement that end
up in loss, through their action or inaction, should be prosecuted,”
the report, authored by the House public accounts committee, recommends.

Full details of the
committee’s routine examination of the financial papers of government
establishments, which are yet to be discussed by the whole House, have
remained unclear.

Its summary on the FHA, carrying with it the commitee’s recommendations, has not yet been approved too.

Invite the EFCC

The committee,
headed by Adamu Mohammed, faulted Mr. Ani for his role in the
transaction. The lawmakers said the former minister acted in breach of
the loan agreement.

“Anthony Ani, who
signed the agreement, did not act in the best interest of the nation
for failing to demand the repayment of the loan,” they concluded.

The committee
recommends that a 12-month moratorium be allowed the FHA before a
repayment plan, which would begin at N500 million per annum, is
instituted.

It also goes further to state that the subsequent management of the
FHA has shown “obvious unwillingness and insensitivity” in repaying the
money, suggesting that anti-corruption agencies be invited to help
recover the cash if the agency refused to pay the loan.