The Nigerian Senate has approved a $500 million World Bank loan request by President Bola Tinubu to provide electricity metres for the citizens.
The fund was approved for the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on Wednesday, after considering the report of the Committee on local and foreign debts, presented by the Vice Chairman, Senator Haruna Manu.
The $500 million loan was part of the $7.94 billion World Bank loan sought by President Bola Tinubu from the Senate’s approval on November 1, 2023.
Under the 2022-2024 external borrowing plan, the President also sought the approval for €100 million.
Although, the Senate gave the approval to borrow $7.4 billion during its special plenary on December 30, Manu, while presenting the report, said the $500m for the BPE could not be approved because the agency did not appear before the committee to defend the proposal.
He further stated that the terms and conditions under which the loan was brought would not, in any manner, compromise the sustainability of Nigeria’s economic growth or affect the sovereignty of Nigeria.
“The Committee recommends that the Senate do approve the ongoing negotiations of the external borrowing in the sum of $500m for BPE; that the terforions of the loan from the funding agency be forwarded to the National Assembly before execution.” He said.
In defense of the borrowing, the Senate, presided over by its Deputy President, Sen. Barau Jibrin, on Wednesday gave its approval for the loan in a unanimous decision in the session.
“The programme development objective of this project is to improve financial and technical performance of electricity distribution companies,” the Senate reported.
saharandaily