NIGERIA'S ministries of finance and budget & national planning as well as the Debt Management Office (DMO) have begun working on plans to re-submit President Muhammadu Buhari’s $30bn borrowing proposal after the senate voted to reject it yesterday.
President Buhari had asked the National Assembly to approve his plan to borrow $30bn from external financiers to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018. Under an ambitious plan to develop Nigeria's infrastructure during his presidency, President Buhari intended to approach international lenders for a sum of $29.96bn.
However, yesterday, senators rejected the bid after majority leader Senator Ali Ndume, moved the motion that the request be subjected to a debate and senate president Senator Bukola Saraki, put the motion to a voice vote twice. Following the rejection, the two ministries and the DMO immediately met to work on the details with a view to going back to the senate with a more detailed document.
Apparently, lawmakers declined to grant the request due to inconsistencies on the part of the executive. According to one senate source, just like the executive sent the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper to the legislature with missing details, the proposal on the loan lacked adequate information.
Among other things, the source specifically noted irregularities in the first and last paragraphs of the president’s letter to the National Assembly. He added that the president failed to attach a draft of his plan.
The first paragraph read: “I wish to refer to the above subject and to submit the attached draft of the federal government’s 2016-2018 external borrowing (rolling) plan for consideration and early approval by the National Assembly to ensure prompt implementation of the projects."
The last paragraph read, “Given the emergency nature of these facilities and the need to consolidate the peace and return the region (North-East) to normalcy, and considering the time it will take to get National Assembly’s approval, it has become inevitable to request for the National Assembly leadership’s approval pending the consideration and approval of the 2016-2018 borrowing plan by the National Assembly to enable us disburse these funds immediately.”
This, the source said, meant that the executive was making an anticipatory request for a process it had not started. After the session, Senator Ndume confirmed that the senate turned down the request on technical grounds, adding that the lawmakers were not furnished with the necessary details contrary to what the president said in his letter.
Senator Ndume added: “The borrowing plan was technically rejected and you could see that I was shocked as the leader because I am the chief marketer. They rejected the product and I am thinking of trying to sell it again and rebrand it.
“One of the technical things that was missing there is that, even if you read the letter, it said attached is a draft but there was no attachment. These are the kinds of lapses we are trying to look at.”
President Buhari had stated in his letter that the money would be expended on infrastructure in agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation, and poverty reduction through social safety net programmes, among others. While reacting to the rejection of the plan, the presidency said it had noted the issues raised by the senate and that it would provide additional information as requested by the legislature.
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