Shehu Sani claimed the “money and the cameras” were kidnapped by the previous governments
By Kehinde Okeowo
Human rights activist and former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has berated Nigerian leaders for their inability to install CCTV cameras in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He made this feeling known via his X page, formerly Twitter, while bemoaning the failure of various Nigerian governments to utilize the $460 million borrowed from China for the installation of CCTV cameras in Abuja.
His criticism comes after recent surge in the activities of bandits who have been on a rampage in the nation’s capital, killing and kidnapping citizens.
The Nigerian government in 2010, obtained a $460 million loan from the China-EXIM bank for the installation of the Closed-Circuit Television cameras in Abuja and the contract was awarded to a Chinese firm, ZTE Communications the same year.
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Subsequently, the then Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga, led a delegation to Beijing, China, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the deal with the Chinese company.
However, about 14 years after, the project is yet to be executed despite the intervention of the House of Representatives in October 2019.
The then House Committee on Finance,
wondered why the CCTV cameras were not working years after the loan was obtained and vowed to probe the borrowed fund.
Revisiting the project in a post on his social media page on Sunday, Shehu Sani asserted that the “money and the cameras” were kidnapped by the previous governments.
He tweeted: “Nigeria’s capital is experiencing an upsurge in cases of kidnappings; this is the same city that the previous federal government secured a $460 million Chinese loan for the installation of CCTV cameras.
“Both the money and the Cameras have since been kidnapped by elements of the past Governments.”