Senate will pass Buhari’s $29.96bn loan request – Lawan

Senate will pass Buhari’s $29.96bn loan request – Lawan.
President of the Senate , Ahmad Lawan , on
Monday, confirmed that the red chamber would
approve the $29 . 96 bn loan request of the
President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari
( retd ) .
His position has therefore laid to rest ,
arguments by some Nigerians that the loan
request would be rejected just like the 8 th
Senate did in 2016 when it was first submitted
to the red chamber for approval .
Lawan , who addressed a press conference in
Abuja , however , assured Nigerians that the
National Assembly would ensure judicious
utilisation of the money .
The Senate President , who was responding to a
question on whether the Senate would approve
the loan or reject it like what happened three
years ago , confirmed in the affirmative .
He said , “ The question of whether we will pass
( approve ) the loan request of the Executive arm
of Government , yes, we will pass it . If we don ’ t
have money and you have projects to build
them, how will you provide infrastructure that
you need?
“ But one thing is that , we are going to be
critical that every cent that is borrowed is tied
to a project .
“ These are projects that will have spillover
effects on the economy and we will undertake
our oversight so well to ensure that such funds
are properly , prudently , economically and
transparently are applied on those projects . ”
Explaining why the request was rejected in
2016 by the Senate , Lawan said , “ In 2016 , the
Senate did not pass the loan request of the
Executive at that time and the reason was
because there were no sufficient details .
“ I want to inform this gathering and indeed
Nigerians that the letter conveying the loan
request of the Executive came with every
possible detail and in fact we will ensure that
we are getting the right information from the
Executive arm of Government . So, the situation
is not the same .
“ In 2016 , there were no submission of details .
This time , I think the Executive has learnt its
lesson and the letter came with sufficient
details .


“ Nothing will really militate against the passage
( of the bill) but we are going to be critical so
that every borrowed (amount ) is tied to a
project .
“ These are projects that will have spill over
effects on the economy and we will undertake
our oversight to ensure such money is
effectively efficiently prudently applied on
those projects . ”