The senate has approved fresh external loans of $1.5bn and
€995m for the federal government.
The red chamber okayed the foreign loans after considering
the report of its committee on local and foreign debts during Wednesday’s
plenary session.
Clifford Ordia, chairman of the committee, told the
lawmakers that the panel had considered the loan request and was recommending
its approval.
The €995m loan is meant for agricultural mechanisation
across the 774 LGAs while the $1.5bn loan will be used to fund critical
infrastructure in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic across the 36 states
and the federal capital territory.
The lawmakers gave their nod for the loan request despite
that Nigeria is struggling under the weight of increasing public debt stock
which stood at N32.22 trillion as of September 30, 2020.
Moreover, the committee on local and foreign debts had
earlier expressed concerns regarding the loans while they were being
considered.
During one of its sittings in March, the Ordia-led panel faulted the action plan presented by Mohmmamed Nanono, minister of agriculture and rural development.
The lawmakers had said the minister could not provide enough
insight into how the federal government intends to deploy the funds for the
agricultural projects.
The minister’s argument was mostly based on the ministry’s
plan to utilise about 50 million hectares of land not being used across the
country for mechanised farming.
“The ministry is seriously in bilateral partnership with
Brazil where 300 tractors are to be bought and imported for the project this
year once the loan is approved….all these plans of ours, are geared towards
food security in the country the population of which will be 400 million in
about 40years from now,” he had said.
But the committee had faulted his presentation, arguing that
“beautiful plans are different from practical implementation.”
Adelere Oriolowom one of its members, had said: “The
tractors you are planning to bring from Brazil will, in no distant time, run
aground by people who are not trained for proper usage of such machines as it
happened in Osun and Borno states recently.
“Capacity building is very important for people to be
engaged in the mechanised farming which we didn’t hear from your presentation.
And are you in touch with the real farmers who, if actually involved, will make
the project impactful?
“Beautiful plans like the ones you have just unfolded, are
not new in this country. Please rejig the plans to be in tune with productivity
needs of the real or rural farmers if you don’t want the money being sought for
to go down in drains.”
On the $1.5bn infrastructural loan, the panel had said it
cannot be approved unless the Debt Management Office (DMO) provides details on
the creditworthiness of all the states.
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