The National Assembly has been slammed over the speedy approval of loan requests presented by President Bola Tinubu.
Experts warned that the continuous plunge of the country into debt without scrutiny could put the country into serious trouble.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate gave expeditious approval for the $2.2bn (N1.767tn) loan request barely 48 hours after President Tinubu made the request.
Read Also:Senate approves Tinubu’s ₦1.77trn loan request
The approval followed the presentation of a report by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Aliyu Wamakko (APC, Sokoto North), during plenary.
Tinubu explained that the loan was integral to his administration’s fiscal strategy for the coming year, in a letter read during Tuesday’s Senate and House of Representatives plenaries.
“The Presidential request for $2.2bn, equivalent to N1.77tn, is already enshrined in the external borrowing plan for the 2024 fiscal year,” Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, stated while reading the letter.
As of June 2024, Nigeria’s public debt which includes external and domestic debt stood at N134tn.
Previous loans passed by N’Assembly
On Wednesday, July 17, the Senate gave speedy consideration to Tinubu’s request for N6.2tn appropriation amendment bill forwarded to it.
In a letter written to the Senate, Tinubu sought the withdrawal of N3.2tn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, for capital expenditure.
The President also sought withdrawal of another N3tn from the consolidated revenue fund for additional recurrent expenditure for the year ending on December 31, 2024.
For expeditious consideration, the Senate gave the requests presented as executive bills, first and second readings, and mandated its committees on Appropriations and Finance to inject more legislative inputs into them and report back within a week.
On December 30, 2023, alongside the budget, the Senate approved Tinubu’s request to borrow $7.8bn and €100m as part of the 2022 – 2024 borrowing plan of the Federal Government.
Similarly, the Red Chamber also okayed Tinubu’s request to securitise the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N7.3trn Ways and Means advances to the Federal Government.
The Ways and Means provision allows the government to borrow from the CBN in the event that it requires short-term or emergency financing to support delayed government projected cash receipts of fiscal shortfalls.
Also, on July 13, the Senate approved the N819bn and another $800m World Bank loan request by Tinubu.
The sum was said to be extracted from the N819bn Supplementary Appropriation Act, 2022.
The breakdown includes the N500bn for palliatives and other capital expenditures to cushion the effect of the recent subsidy removal policy.
In separate requests to the two chambers of the National Assembly, President Tinubu sought approval from the Senate and House of Reps for a $800m loan and N500bn palliative for the removal of petrol subsidy.
Experts criticise N’Assembly
The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, noted that the National Assembly had failed in its oversight duties.
Rafsanjani argued that it was sad that the lawmakers had chosen to side with the executive rather than scrutinise its activities.
He said, “It’s quite unfortunate that the lawmakers give blanket approval to the president’s demands. They have become more than rubber stamps by ensuring they side with the president at all costs.
“Their job is to scrutinise and investigate the president’s policies, ensure that all details are submitted before they approve. They ought to also ensure that things are done rightly. They ought to be oversighting the executive and pursue the interests of Nigeria and Nigerians first.”
Also, a legal practitioner, Victor Opatola, emphasised the constitutional responsibility of the National Assembly in approving loans, stressing that lawmakers must thoroughly assess both the necessity and the impact of such financial requests.
According to Opatola, the National Assembly had a clear mandate to scrutinise proposed loans and ensure they were in the best interest of the country.
He said, “The National Assembly has the constitutional mandate to approve such loans. They also have the constitutional authority to interrogate the need for these loans and determine whether taking on additional debt is necessary at this stage.”
“They envisaged a National Assembly that is inquisitive, investigative, and diligent,” he noted.
“Given the power vested in them by the constitution, this power must be brought to bear when the president seeks approval for loans.”
Opatola stressed that lawmakers must ensure that previous loans had been effectively used for their intended purposes.
“What the National Assembly ought to do is to assess how previous loans have been utilised. Has there been any evidence that these loans have been used judiciously for the benefit of the people?
“If there is no concrete evidence that the loans are performing effectively, or if there are concerns that the funds may have been misappropriated, it is the responsibility of the National Assembly to thoroughly investigate the use and purpose of any new loan request.”
Also, a Professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Sheriffdeen Tella, said, “What we should be interested in is how effective are the loans that had been approved before. It is not in the good interest of the economy if loans are approved and it is not effectively used to impact the lives of Nigerians.”
