President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has revealed that the 9th Senate will pass President Muhammadu Buhari’s $29.9 billion loan request.
Mr Lawan, while addressing journalists in Abuja, said the Senate would approve the loan request but would ensure adequate oversight.
“We are going to be critical that every cent that is borrowed is tied to a project,” Mr Lawan said in response to a question by a journalist.
Thelagostimes recalls that in November 2016, Bukola Saraki led Senate rejected the same loan request from President Buhari. It had complained that details of the request were not forwarded to the chamber.
While reacting to the 2016 rejection, Mr Lawan, who was then a senator, said the Senate was right then to have rejected the loan request.
“In 2016, there were no sufficient details,” he said, adding that “the executive has learnt its lessons.”
Lawan said: “The question of whether we will pass 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.”