President Muhammadu Buhari has represented the 2016-2018 external borrowing plan which was rejected by the 8th National Assembly to national law makers for consideration and approval.
President Buhari’s administration has inclined heavily on borrowing for funding of capital projects, resulting in Nigeria ‘s deabt profile which was literally wiped out in 2008 when the country nder President Olusegun Obasanjo presidency paid about $18 billion dollars to Paris Club of creditors to free Nigeria from strangle of a debt trap.
As a result, Nigeria eternal debt which hit a record low of $3.6 billion in the first quarter of 2009 has ballooned to $27.2 billion in the second quarter of 2019.
Under the financial plan which was approved by the Federal Executive Council in August 2016 and sent to the 8th Assembly in September 2016, Buhari had asked the 8th Assembly to approve plans to borrow $30bn abroad to fund infrastructure plans from 2016 to 2018. .
The leadership of the federal parliament led by Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara had rejected the request in November 2016.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, who read the fresh request sent by Buhari during plenary, did not give details of the executive communication.
It was not clear at the time of the report whether the government is sticking to the $30 billion borrowing plan or whether it had made some adjustments.
Analysts believe that the current National Assembly which has been acting more like a rubber stamp of the executive will not hesitate to endorse any of the president’s plan.
A Lagos based economist, Mr. Pius Eze, warned that the current leadership in the country should be wary of the implications of the huge debts they are piling up especially as much of the money still ends up in private accounts.
