$30B LOAN: Buhari To Make Some Adjustments [ See Details]

There are indications that President Muhammadu Buhari
will now break his proposed $30 billion foreign loan plan
into three tranches for easy accessibility and possible approval by the Senate.


This is as the president has sent a letter to the National Assembly for A joint sitting on December 14 to present the 2017 Budget and address the parliament on the way out of recession.

According to a report by New Telegraph, having met stiff opposition from the Senate, the president decided to have a rethink along the views of majority of Nigerians, who felt that he had no reason whatsoever to borrow such huge amount of money at once and put the nation into perpetual debt.

A source close to the Presidency told New Telegragh that Buhari had concluded plans to break the loan into three tranches so that it could be utilised in stages, to enable the economy to absorb the fund meaningfully and be able to yield tangible results.

The source, who preferred to speak on the condition of anonymity, stated that looking at the present state of the economy, the proposed loan was too big to be utilised in one fiscal year, saying that the Senate was right in rejecting the initiative.

The source said: “One of the ministers, who is my close friend has told me that they want to break the loan into three or four tranches because $30 billion is so huge amount that our economy cannot absorb it in one fiscal year.

“When they break it as they are now planning to do, you will find out that it will be easier to be applied for meaningful infrastructural development and other services rather than taking the huge lump sum and then be tempted to waste, misapply or misappropriate it.

“Taking the loan in tranches will also make it easier for the National Assembly to carry out effective and result oriented oversight on the use of the fund because government must be accountable to the people in whatever it is doing since democracy is the government of the people.

“I am also optimistic that when the executive arm becomes
reasonable, more responsive and responsible in its policy
decisions, the National Assembly will also give it a corresponding support because governance is a collective responsibility.

“However, the parliamentarians, being the representatives of the people, have more work to do to protect the interest of the people from any anti-people proposals of the executive arm, and that is why I am happy about what the Senate has done.”

A principal of the Senate also confirmed the plan to break the loan into tranches. The Senate had, on Tuesday, November 1, thrown out Buhari’s request for National Assembly to grant him approval to obtain $30 billion foreign loan, principally for infrastructural development.