From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Delta State House of Assembly has approved two separate loan requests of N100 billion and N20 billion respectively from Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.
The House gave the approval during plenary presided over by the Speaker, Sheriff Oborevwori.
In his letter of request to the House, the governor said the N100 billion would be drawn from an earlier approved N150 billion Consolidated Syndicated Loan.
Okowa recalled that on the April 26, 2022, the House approved for the state government to obtain N150 billion with Zenith Bank as the Lead Arranger.
He explained that with the change of the Lead Arranger from Zenith Bank to Premium Trust Bank, alongside other participating banks willing to accede to the pricing terms, Premium Trust Bank has insisted for House of Assembly resolution to enable it consummate the transaction in line with prudential guidelines and extant regulations.
The governor said consequent on the above, the State Executive Council at its meeting of Monday January 16, 2023, considered and approved for the state government to obtain N100 billion out of the N150 billion earlier approved Consolidated Syndicated Loan in line with the revised terms and conditions.
In another letter to the House, Okowa sought for approval for N20 billion from Fidelity Bank to finance the Delta State Government additional investment of 3% Equity in UTM Offshore Limited Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project.
Motion for the receipt of the letter for further legislative actions was moved by the Majority Leader, Ferguson Onwo, IsokoSouth 2, seconded by the Minority Leader, Innocent Anidi, Ethiope East and unanimously adopted.
The Majority leader, Ferguson Onwo who also moved the motion for approval of the requests, restated the commitment of the House for good governance in the state, and commended the executive arm of government for respect of rule of law.