In
his words words, “some people around the President who ought to carry
out
their jobs very seriously, are not doing that”.
This
came after the Senate rejected the Federal Government’s request for a
$30bn
loan on November 1, 2016, on grounds of incomplete presentation.
According
to Mr Abdulahi, “details of the plan were missing.
“If
you plan to borrow such a huge sum of money, it’s important to include
the
details and come up with a solid plan.
“At
the end of the day, they are creating a situation whereby when the
senate
acts in line with its constitutional duties, they tend to now see
that
as an anti-action,” he added.
Explaining
further, he said it was important to note that at the beginning
of
the eighth senate, “the senate was very clear, emphatic and unambiguous
about
certain things.
“There
was also an agreement that the Federal Government could go for a
concessionary
loan, to enhance the implementation of the 2016 budget,
which
already had a borrowing plan of about 2.3 trillion,” he explained.
Furthermore,
he clarified that the senate is not averse to the executive,
coming
up with something like this. “we actually made that suggestion
also,
through the recession resolutions that we passed”.
He
however stated that as representatives of the people, the senate has a
duty
to ensure that only actions that would bring people succor, rather
than
putting them in more difficulty, are taken.
Considering
the borrowing plan as a very serious matter, he said reports
gathered,
have estimated that the loan may take up to 30 years to recover.
“Now
do we say the letter that Mr President brought is sufficient for us
to
just give our consent?” he questioned.
Explaining
further about the senate’s rejection of the President’s
request,
he said “we must therefore be very fair and thorough in taking
such
a decision.
“We
have given approval for so many things, however on this particular
loan,
every senator is trying to consider what is in it for the
constituents
of the various state local government areas.”
The
essence of this representation is that we are here to ensure that the
dividends
of democracy gets down to almost every cranny.
Proper
Presentation
The
senate leaders had promised to meet with relevant members of the
executive
to discuss the details and do a proper presentation to the
senate
at a later date.
The
House of Representatives is however yet to consider the President’s
request
as they had earlier called off the consideration which was to take
place
on Thursday.
The
legislators pointed out that despite the good intentions of President
Buhari,
they had reservations about his team.
There
are indications that it may not be considered this week as well.
The
senators turned down the external borrowing request due to what they
called
“lack of documents supporting the request as referenced in the
letter”.
President
Buhari wrote to the National Assembly seeking its approval for
an
external borrowing of 29.9 billion dollars to ensure the prompt
implementation
of projects.
He
said that the projects would cut across agriculture, health, education,
and
water supply.
In
the letter read on the floor of the House of Reps by Speaker Yakubu
Dogara,
the President explained:
“Considering
the huge infrastructural deficit currently being experienced
in
the country and the enormous financial resources required to fill the
gap
in the face of dwindling resources and the inability of our annual
budget
to bridge the infrastructure deficit, it has become necessary to
resort
to prudent external borrowing to bridge the financial gap which
will
largely be applied to key infrastructure projects namely power,
railway
and road projects, amongst others.
Chairman,
Senate Committee on Media and Affairs, Aliyu Sabi Abdulahi, has indicted officials of the Presidency, over
what he considers to be lack of due diligence.
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