By our reporter|The Senate on Tuesday approved President Muhammadu Buhari loan request of N850 billion to enable government fund some projects in the 2020 budget.
President Buhari’s request was granted following the senators’ resumption from a recess over the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.
At the resumed plenary, the Senate President who welcomed his colleagues and gave the reason for the resumption of plenary amid the rising cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria, explained that the decision was to help sustain solutions to the health crisis and ensure the crisis does not create more problems for the government and its people.
According to him, the pandemic has affected the 2020 budget and the National Assembly has a responsibility to work with the Executive to address the problem.
The president made the request in a letter read by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan on the floor of the upper chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja.
According to the letter, President Buhari seeks to raise the loan from the domestic capital market to ensure adequate funds to finance projects in the budget.
After the letter was read, the lawmakers gave accelerated approval to the President’s request to raise the loan.
They also asked the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriation to liaise with the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, to get more details on the loan request.
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