Femi Falana has accused President Tinubu Government betrayal of public trust over the alleged diversion of $3.4 billion IMF loan.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the Chairman of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond, Femi Falana has alleged that the emergency loan Nigeria received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the COVID-19 pandemic was diverted.
Speaking via a statement issued on Sunday, Falana called for an immediate investigation into what it described as the “criminal diversion” of the $3.4bn fund.
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He accused the government of mismanaging the funds meant to cushion the pandemic’s impact.
He also faulted the IMF for failing to enforce safeguards that would have ensured the funds were properly used.
He said, “The emergency funds were meant to provide critical support to Nigeria’s healthcare system, protect jobs, and stabilise the economy. Instead, they were diverted, reclassified, and in large part remain unaccounted for.”
The IMF had last week announced that Nigeria had fully repaid the $3.4bn obtained under its Rapid Financing Instrument.
However, Falana noted that the country still faces outstanding charges, including net interest and administrative fees totaling SDR 125.99m, an estimated ₦275.28bn.
“Even though Nigeria has repaid the principal, the issue of accountability remains unresolved. The repayment does not wipe away the serious allegations raised in the Auditor-General’s report,” Falana stated.
According to Falana, the 2020 audit report released in January 2024 by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation revealed that a large portion of the IMF loan was not used for emergency relief.
Falana described the actions as “a betrayal of public trust,” asserting: “The reclassification of funds as external reserves was a scheme to sidestep accountability and benefit from interest on funds meant to save lives.”
“The audit also revealed that in August 2020, the Ministry of Finance requested the monetisation of $700m to fund the national budget. The CBN approved a debit of ₦265.65bn at an inflated exchange rate, distributing ₦252bn to the COVID-19 Public Sector Account, ₦13.3bn to the Forex Equalisation Account, and ₦350m to the Exchange Commission Account.
“A questionable 2% commission was deducted from the transaction, despite the funds being Federal Government property,” Falana added. “By the end of 2020, a staggering $2.7bn—equivalent to ₦1.02tn—remained unaccounted for.
“The report clearly states that the culprits should be handed over to the EFCC and ICPC for investigation and prosecution. But sadly, the National Assembly has refused to act on this damning report.
“Consequently, ASCAB is calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to “commence a full-scale investigation into the criminal diversion of the IMF loan,” Falana added.
