…Approves Buhari’s $16.2bn, €1.02bn loan request
By Mohammed Mohammed
The Senate on Wednesday held a minute silence to mourn the killing of over 120 Nigerians by bandits at the Gorony market in Sokoto State.
The attention of the upper chamber was drawn to the incident by Senator Ibrahim Gobir through a point of order during the start of plenary.
Meanwhile, the Senate has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s loan request for the sum of $16,230,077,718 (USD) billion, €1,020,000,000 billion (Euros), under the 2018-2020 External Borrowing plan.
According to the lawmaker, the massacre of the victims by bandits occurred on Sunday, October 17, 2021.
Coming under Order 43 – Personal Explanation – of the Senate Rules, Gobir said, “on Sunday, 17th October, 2021, Gorony market was attacked, and about 120 plus people killed.
“The terrorists came to the market and started shooting every person they saw in the market.”
He disclosed that in seven villages within some local government areas of the state, residents are compelled by bandits to pay levies between N1 million and N20 million.
Gobir gave the affected villages to include: Kwarangamba, Garki, Danadua, Katuma, Kurawa and Dama.
The lawmaker lamented that failure to meet the demand imposed by the bandits in the affected areas had severally led to the killing of the villagers.
Gobir expressed frustration that inspite of consistent pleas to security agencies to come to the rescue of the affected communities, nothing has been done so far by the military and police to intervene in the plight of the people.
He further disclosed that the failure of the military to come to the rescue of the villagers has emboldened the terrorists to install their own representatives as villages heads in some areas of Sabon-Girin Local Government.
“The terrorists are now installing their village heads in some areas of Sabin-Girin local government.
“In Gangara, they replaced the village head with Dan Bakkolo, the next in command to a known terrorists called Turji.
“In Makwaruwa, they installed Dan Karami (a terrorist) as Maigari”, Senator Gobir said.
Still on the loan request also approved was a grant component of $125 million, and the request to the Bank of Industries for the issuance of €500 million (Euros) but no more than €750 million Eurobond in the International Capital Market.
The chamber’s approval to the loan requests was, however, accompanied by a resolution that the terms and conditions of the loan from the funding agencies, be forwarded to the National Assembly prior to its execution for approval and proper documentation.
The approval followed the consideration of a report by the Committee on Local and Foreign Debt on the proposed 2018-2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Clifford Ordia (PDP, Edo Central), in his presentation, said President Buhari’s request was in compliance with the provisions of the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act 2003 and the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.
According to the lawmaker, the provisions of the statutes enjoin the President to seek and obtain the approval of the National Assembly in respect of the External Borrowing Programme of the Federation and States.
He explained that out of the total amount approved by the National Assembly, the sum of $3,529,300,000 billion would be sourced from the World Bank; $5,078,441,252 billion from China EximBank; $3,902,267,260 billion from Industrial & Commercial Bank of China; $2,893,693,930 billion from China Development Bank; and $698,500,000 billion from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB).
In addition, he stated that €345,000,000 million euros is expected to be sourced from the French Development Agency (AFD); €175,000,000 million euros from the European Investment Bank; $190,255,276 million USD from European ECA/KfW/IPEX/AFC; €500,000,000 euros from the International Capital Market; and $62,120,000 USD from Standard Chartered Bank/SINOCURE.
The Senator explained that the Committee in reaching its resolutions, noted the serious concerns of Nigerians about the level and sustainability of the country’s borrowing in the last decade.
Ordia said Nigeria’s debt figures which continue to increase, reached an all-time high of around 95 percent of retained revenue and 35 percent of its annual expenditure.
He expressed concern that the development constitutes a drain on the nation’s economy and limits resources available for national development.
Explaining the need for a more proactive approach to revenue enhancement, the lawmaker observed that “there are noticeable improvements in our revenues but the growth is not sufficient or rapid enough to catch up with the pace of development required for our nation.”
He disclosed that out of the sum of over $22.8 billion approved by the National Assembly under the 2016-2018 External Borrowing Plan, only $2.8 billion – an amount representing ten percent – has been disbursed to Nigeria.
The lawmaker stressed that the projects, which require additional financing, would have great multiplier effect on stimulating economic growth through infrastructure development, job creation, poverty alleviation, healthcare and improve the nation’s security architecture.
He emphasized that tax revenues accruable to Government would increase as a result of the impact of commercial and engineering activities.
