Kenneth Udeh, Abuja
The Senate on Thursday approved the $22.7bn loan requested by President Buhari after a heated debate that ended up in a closed session.
The lawmakers after the closed-door session, which lasted over 45 minutes, approved the two-item recommendation of the Committee on Local and Foreign Loans chaired by Senator Clifford Ordia.
The senators jointly agreed on earlier issues of contention that led to the emergency closed-door session, a move suggested by Senator Gabriel Suswam.
The president of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan assured that the loan would be channeled towards projects that would have an impact on the lives of Nigerians.
He also challenged the various committees of the Senate to ensure strict oversight so that every dollar in the load would be accounted for.
The bulk of the load would be sourced from the Islamic Development Bank, Africa Development Bank, World Bank and banks from China, Japan and Germany.
Recall that according to the Debt Management Office (DMO), the total external debt stands at $27.16 billion, while domestic debt has climbed to $56.72 billion.
Details later …