The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the World Bank to conduct an investigation into the spending of loans and other facilities by the country’s 36 state governors and to suspend any loans and funding if there is relevant admissible evidence of mismanagement or diversion of public funds by any of the states.
It also asked the World Bank to “suspend further applications for loans and any other funding to the 36 states until these states can satisfactorily explain details of spending of loans and other facilities obtained from the Bank and its partners.”
The Deputy Director of SERAP, Kolawole Oluwadare stated thus:
“The World Bank and its partners cannot continue to give loans and other funding to these states where there are credible allegations of mismanagement or diversion of public funds.”
“We are concerned that there is a significant risk of mismanagement or diversion of funds linked to the Bank’s investments in many of the country’s 36 states. It is neither appropriate nor responsible lending to give loans to these states only for the loans to be misspent.”