President Bola Tinubu has sought the approval of the Senate for the 2025-2026 external borrowing plan of 21.5billion dollars.
The president also sought the approval of the Senate for a loan request of 15 billion Japanese Yen and 51 million Euros grant.
Tinubu’s request is contained in a letter addressed to Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and read at plenary on Tuesday.
Tinubu in the letter, said ”following the removal of the first fuel subsidy and its impact on the national economy, approval is sought for the external building plan.
“I want to emphasise that the projects and programmes included in the plan were selected based on technical and economic evaluations and the anticipated contributions to the socioeconomic development of the country”.
He explained that the initiatives were aimed at generating employment, promote skill acquisition, foster entrepreneurship, reduce poverty and enhance food security.
According to him, this will improve the livelihoods of the average Nigerian.
The President added that majority of the projects and programmes would be implemented across the 36 states of the country.
He noted that amid declining domestic funding, it had become essential to pursue prudent external borrowing, saying that a vast financial resource was needed to address the infrastructure gap across the country.
“These funds will primarily be directed towards critical infrastructure projects including sectors in power, railways, healthcare, among others.
”Given the urgent nature of business and the importance of stabilising the economy, it is therefore crucial to seek approval of the distinguished senate for the 2025-2026 external borrowing plan.
“This will enable the government to fulfill its obligations to the Nigerian people through timely and effective project implementation,” he said.
Akpabio thereafter refereed the request to Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for further legislative inputs and to revert to plenary within two weeks.
