A committee has been established by the Nigerian Senate to look into the Development Bank of Nigeria’s (DBN) uneven distribution of N500 billion to the country’s six geographical zones.
This was made public on Wednesday as a result of a resolution introduced in plenary on Tuesday by Sen. Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) and co-sponsored by Sen. Ibrahim Bomai (APC-Yobe South).
According to the Senate, Lagos received 47% of the overall loan amount, making it the main recipient, and the entire northern area received 11%.
Sen. Sani Musa, head of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions, will preside over the committee. The committee has been given two weeks to provide a report to the Senate.
The Nigerian Development Bank was encouraged by the Senate to make sure that the loan was distributed fairly throughout all six of the nation’s geographical regions.
According to Senator Ndume, the top five sectors that received loans were Oil and Gas (42.0%), Manufacturing (16.0%), Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (7.2%), Trade and Commerce (6.3%), and Transportation and Storage (3.5%).
“The bank was able to release a loan of N483, 000, 000, out of which just 11% went to the 19 states of northern Nigeria and 47% went to Lagos alone, according to the bank’s Annual Integrated Statutory Report 2021, which I was obtained from the organization’s website,” he added.
