Breaking: Senate Okays $6bn Loan, Warns Against Frivolous Spending

By Tosin Olatokunbo

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan has urged the federal government not to engage in frivolous spending, after the Upper chamber approved the $6.1 billion loan requested by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The president, in May this year requested for the approval of the loan which he said is needed to fund critical infrastructure in the country. Part of the loan will also be used to finance part of the 2021 Budget deficit, Buhari said.

The $6.1 billion loan request — N2.343 trillion — was approved after Clifford Ordia, chairman of the loan and debts committee, presented a report on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.

Buhari said the loan will be raised from multilateral and bilateral tenders as well as the international capital market.

While presenting his report, Ordia said the request is not new as it was approved in the borrowing plan when the national assembly passed the 2021 budget.

“What we are about to pass is not a new borrowing, it has been approved in the 2021 budget,” the senator representing Edo central said.

Lawan said “Let me thank the committee, this is not a new loan. This is a borrowing plan we have approved,” Lawan said.

“What we have done is to provide the necessary resolutions for the implementation of it.

“Every cent counts. Our committees must be alive to oversee it. No frivolous expenditures should be entertained.”