Nigeria is effectively repaying an estimated $36.4 million annually for an Abuja CCTV project that was never fully delivered, with repayments on the Chinese loan expected to run until 2030, according to Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ).

The project, officially known as the National Public Security Communication System (NPSCS), was introduced under former president Goodluck Jonathan in 2010 as a major security infrastructure programme for Abuja amid rising bomb attacks and insecurity in the Federal Capital Territory.

The federal government signed a contract valued at about $470 million with ZTE Corporation for the project before securing a $399.5 million loan from China Eximbank to finance most of it.

According to data from AidData, a research lab at the College of William & Mary in the United States that tracks Chinese development finance globally, the loan carries a 20-year maturity period, a seven-year grace period, and a fixed interest rate of 2.5 per cent.

Based on those terms, repayment is expected to continue until approximately 2030.

FIJ cross-referenced these details with the DMO’s documentation of the loan.

In 2021, the DMO published ‘LOANS OBTAINED FROM CHINA EXIM AS AT SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 AMOUNTS IN MILLIONS’, where it stated that the FG had paid back $122 million and an interest of $96 million.

FIJ estimated the yearly repayment using a standard loan repayment formula often used for long-term loans like sovereign debt and mortgages.

The method assumes the loan is repaid in equal yearly instalments over a fixed period. Each payment covers part of the original loan and the interest charged on the remaining balance.

As the debt reduces over time, the interest charged also drops, although the total yearly payment stays the same.

Using this model, FIJ treated the $399.5 million loan as repayable over 13 years at an annual interest rate of 2.5 per cent.

This was after factoring in a seven-year grace period within the loan’s 20-year lifespan.

Based on these assumptions, the estimated yearly repayment came to about $36.4 million.

This estimate is only a simplified projection. In reality, sovereign loans are often repaid under more flexible arrangements.

Sometimes, there could be semi-annual payments, interest added during grace periods, or repayment plans where larger payments come later.

FIJ understands that the debt has also become more expensive in naira terms because the loan is denominated in US dollars.

When the loan agreement was signed in 2010, the naira exchanged at roughly N150 to $1 in the official market, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria. At that rate, the $399.5 million facility was equivalent to around N59.9 billion.

On Monday, however, the dollar traded above N1,370 at the official market.

Using an exchange rate of N1,371/$, the same $399.5 million obligation is now equivalent to about N547.8 billion.

In effect, the naira value of the debt has increased by roughly N487.9 billion since the loan was signed.

This means the debt burden has grown by more than nine times in naira terms in the past 16 years due largely to the depreciation of the naira against the dollar.

Nigeria is effectively repaying about $36.4 million yearly for the Abuja CCTV project under the loan’s repayment structure.

At the current official exchange rate of roughly N1,371 to the dollar, that yearly repayment translates to about N49.9 billion annually.

When the loan was signed in 2010, however, the naira traded at around N150/$, meaning the same yearly repayment would have cost about N5.5 billion at the time.

The CCTV project has remained controversial since the start of the implementation.

The federal government originally presented the project as a modern surveillance and emergency-response system designed to improve security monitoring across Abuja.

The infrastructure was expected to include city-wide CCTV surveillance, emergency communication systems, command-and-control centres and integrated police communication facilities.

But in 2016, members of the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs visited the control centre and found that many installed cameras were either inactive or non-functional.

In 2019, the matter resurfaced when lawmakers asked why Nigeria was still repaying the Chinese loan despite concerns about the operational status of the surveillance infrastructure.

During legislative discussions at the time, Zainab Ahmed, then minister of Finance, stated that the government was still servicing the loan but did not have full information regarding the project’s implementation status. Lawmakers brought the issue back to the fore in April due to insecurity in the Federal Capital Territory.

The issue became the subject of litigation after the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project  (SERAP)sued the Federal Government under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking details of the spending and implementation process.

In 2023, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the government to disclose information relating to the project, including how the loan was spent and the identities of contractors involved.

On Sunday, the Federal Ministry of Finance had told SERAP, which had urged Taiwo Oyedele to publish details surrounding the project, that, “Records from the Ministry of Police Affairs indicate that while local subcontractors may have been engaged, there is an absence of detailed subcontracting records identifying specific local companies that received funds directly from the Chinese loan.”

Federal Government has cancelled $717.7 million in undisbursed World Bank intervention financing designed to revive Nigeria’s struggling electricity sector.

The cancellation followed a formal request by the Federal Government and a joint decision by both parties to discontinue financing under the Power Sector Recovery Performance-Based Operation due to evolving sector realities and the inability to achieve key reform milestones.

The development followed an earlier warning by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr. Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, that Nigeria may reject loan facilities from the Bank if delays in approval and disbursement persist, stating that prolonged timelines could undermine the country’s willingness to proceed with such arrangements.

According to documents obtained from the World Bank, the development effectively terminates the remaining portion of a $1.52 billion power sector recovery programme. The cancelled amount represents the entire undisbursed balance remaining under the programme.

“The restructuring will result in the cancellation of the entire undisbursed balance in the amount of $717.7m equivalent, and no further disbursements will be made under the Program following approval of this restructuring,” the bank stated.

The Federal Government developed the Power Sector Recovery Programme as a framework to restore the sector’s financial viability and reduce its fiscal burden on public finances. The programme included plans to progressively eliminate tariff shortfalls, improve operational performance among power sector institutions, and strengthen regulatory oversight and accountability mechanisms.

The loan was approved on June 23, 2020, with original financing of about $752.5 million equivalent to improve electricity supply reliability, strengthen financial sustainability, and enhance accountability across the electricity value chain. Following initial progress, the World Bank approved an Additional Financing package of approximately $763.5 million equivalent on June 9, 2023, which became effective on June 19, 2024, extending the project’s closing date to June 30, 2027.

However, while the parent programme largely achieved its results and successfully disbursed its resources, the additional financing struggled significantly to meet critical reform conditions. High technical, commercial, and collection losses across the distribution segment, combined with inadequate cost recovery, created a recurring mismatch between revenues generated by the sector and its actual operating costs.

The World Bank noted that Nigeria’s electricity sector continues to face deep-rooted structural challenges despite years of reforms and financial support, citing weak distribution performance, transmission bottlenecks, underutilization of available generation capacity, and persistent financial imbalances.

Implementation of the original operation delivered notable results initially, reducing tariff shortfalls by 71 percent between 2019 and 2022 (declining from ₦581 billion to ₦166 billion), while regulatory cost recovery improved from 56 percent to 94 percent.

The anticipated reforms under the newer additional package failed to materialize due to major macroeconomic developments that dramatically altered the operating environment. The liberalisation of Nigeria’s foreign exchange market in June 2023 triggered a sharp depreciation of the naira, leading to a substantial increase in the cost of natural gas used for electricity generation. More than 70 percent of electricity supplied to Nigeria’s national grid is generated using natural gas, which is priced in United States dollars.

Fidelity Bank Plc recorded 37.9 per cent growth in gross earnings to N434.95 billion in first quarter 2026 as the international commercial bank continued to expand its core banking market share.

Fidelity Bank

Interim report and accounts of Fidelity Bank for the three months ended March 31, 2026 released at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) showed that gross earnings rose from N315.42 billion in first quarter 20025 to N434.95 billion in first quarter 2026, representing an increase of 37.9 per cent.

The top-line performance was driven by impressive growth in the bank’s core business operations with interest incomes rising by 22.8 per cent to N314.48 billion in first quarter 2026 as against N256.10 billion in first quarter 2025.

With net interest income at N180.97 billion, the bank closed the period with profit before tax of N92.48 billion. After taxes, net profit stood at N74.47 billion for the three-month period. Earnings per share remained high at N5.69, underlining the capacity of the bank to reward its shareholders.

The balance sheet of the bank also emerged stronger. Total assets crossed the N11 trillion mark to N11.35 trillion by March 2026 compared with N10.46 trillion recorded in December 2025. Customers’ deposits increased from N6.89 trillion to N7.38 trillion. Total equity rode on the back of earnings growth to a 27.5 per cent increase from N1.09 trillion in December 2025 to N1.39 trillion by March 2026.

The first quarter 2026 results further consolidated the strong earnings outlook of the bank, which had successfully completed its recapitalisation amidst impressive earnings performance in 2025.

Fidelity Bank had recorded double-digit growths in interest and non-interest incomes as well as key balance sheet items during the year ended December 31, 2025.

The audited report showed that gross earnings rose from N1.04 trillion in 2024 to N1.52 trillion in 2025, an increase of 45.6 per cent. Interest and similar incomes had grown by 38.7 per cent from N803.1 billion in 2024 to N1.11 trillion in 2025. Fees and commission incomes also rose by 44.7 per cent from N78.4 billion to N113.4 billion. The bank recorded net profit after tax of N242.4 billion in 2025.

The bank’s balance sheet emerged stronger with total assets rising by 18.6 per cent to N10.46 trillion in 2025 as against N8.82 trillion in 2024. Customer deposits increased by 16.1 per cent from N5.94 trillion to N6.89 trillion, reflecting continued franchise strength and an improved funding profile. Net loans and advances meanwhile declined by 2.4 per cent to N4.28 trillion in 2025 as against N4.39 trillion in 2024, attributable to customers paying down on their mature obligations.

The bank had in 2025 strengthened its capital position, with eligible capital rising to N561 billion, above the regulatory minimum of N500 billion for banks with international authorisation. In addition, capital adequacy had remained robust, with Capital Adequacy Ratio of 30.94 per cent by December 2025 as against 23.47 per cent by December 2024.

Managing Director, Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, said the first quarter 2026 results reinforced the bank’s strong and resilient business model.

She noted that with the remarkable success of its recapitalisation programme and continuing expansion, Fidelity Bank has entered a new era of growth and impressive returns.

“We are on a stronger footing and confident that we will set new growth records that are reflective of our legacy and the future we are working on,” Onyeali-Ikpe said.