The Nigerian Senate has rejected the request for approval of a 29.9 billion US dollar external borrowing plan by President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2016 – 2018 rolling plan.
The rejection followed the non-attachment of a detailed breakdown on the areas of expenditure that the loans would be directed at.
TVC News Sumner Sambo reports that the presidency and the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume have promised to lobby all lawmakers for a re-presentation of the proposal.
The letter was sent to the parliament last week requesting the approval of an external borrowing plan of 29.9 billion dollars to execute key infrastructural projects and special interventions across the country.
But when it was scheduled for debate, majority of the senators rejected the proposal through a voice vote that shook the presiding officers.
The non-inclusion of a detailed budget breakdown accompanying the letter was interpreted by many senators as seeking anticipatory approval without scrutiny hence the rejection of the request.
The letter had stated that the 11.2 billion dollars would be for projects and programmes, 10.6 billion dollars for Special National Infrastructure projects, Euro Bond loans of 4.5 billion dollars and Federal Government Budget Support of 3.5 billion dollars all totaling 29.9 billion dollars.
