The Nigerian Senate has rejected President Buhari’s request to borrow $29.960 at its plenary session on Tuesday 1st November 2016. It will be recalled that the President had forwarded letters to the leadership of the National Assembly last week requesting authorization of the said amount as part of his 2016-2018 External Borrowing Plan. Details in the letter indicated that the plan was targeted at projects that cut across all sectors such as agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation among others. Majority leader, Sen. Ali Ndume (APC:Borno) moved for the Senate to consider the President’s request but lawmakers unanimously declined approval without adducing reasons.
However, while addressing press men after plenary, Sen. Ali Ndume revealed that lawmakers refused to consider the President’s request on technical grounds since details of the borrowing plan were not attached to the letter sent by the President.
In a related development, the President’s request for the confirmation of 46 non-career ambassadorial nominees almost suffered similar fate as most legislators voted against it in a voice vote. However the Senate President, Bukola Saraki (APC:Kwara) overruled the voice vote and referred the matter to the Senate Committee on Foreign affairs for further legislative action.
