Pay your debts, or we pursue you: CBN tells defaulting govs

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, on Thursday expressed displeasure over the attitude of some state governors who ‘deliberately’ refused to pay back budget support facilities given to them.

Emefiele spoke during an assessment tour of Dangote Sugar Factory sited in Tunga area of Awe Local Government Area (LGA) of Nasarawa State in company of the President, Dangote Group, and Governor Abdullahi Sule among other dignitaries.

The CBN governor warned that any governor who refused to pay back loans would be held responsible, promising to ensure that they repaid all the COVID-19 loans.

The CBN boss also disclosed that the federal government has spent over N600 million in the importation of sugar into the country.

“The federal government has spent a total amount of N600 million to $1 billion for the importation of sugar into the country,” he said.

Emefiele lauded Nasarawa State governor for providing 60,000 hectares of land for the project, and Dangote Group for considering the idea and the Awe community for accepting the company to establish a sugar company in their domain.

Earlier, Governor Sule said with about 60,000 hectares of land being occupied by Dangote Sugar plantation, the project can address the sugar needs of the country.

The president, Dangote Group, revealed that over 500 million dollars were invested in the project, underscoring the commitment of the state government towards ensuring the survival of the project.