News
Buhari Seeks $5.5bn Foreign Loans

President Muhammadu Buhari has requested the Senate’s approval to borrow the sum of five billion, five hundred million dollars from external financial sources, to fund capital projects in the 2017 budget and to finance local debts as well.
President Buhari in a letter read to the Senate by the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki yesterday, said the external loan are expected to come in two parts .
First is $3.0 billion for re-financing of maturing domestic debt obligations of the Federal Government, and the second part of $2.5 billion for the financing of the Federal Government’s 2017 Appropriation Act and Capital Expenditure projects in the Act.
According to the letter, the request for the external loan of three billion was based on the resolution arrived at by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in its meeting held on August 9.
As stated in the letter, the $2.5billion would be borrowed from international capital market, through Eurobonds or a combination of Eurobond and diaspora bonds, while , the $3 billion would be sourced from Eurobond in the international market, and, or through loan syndication by banks.
According to the letter, the $2.5 billion external loan would be used to finance the deficit in the 2017 Appropriation Act and provide funding for the capital projects in the budget, which it listed to include Mambilla Hydropower Project, construction of a second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe international Airport.
Other projects to be funded by this loan are: counterpart funding for rail projects and the construction of the Bodo-Bonny Road, with a bridge across the Opobo Channel.
The three billion dollars , President Buhari said would be used for the re-financing of domestic debts would be used to reduce the debt service levels and lengthen the tenure profile of the debt stock, hence the federal government seeks to substitute maturing domestic debt with less expensive long term external debt.
Buhari in the letter also told the Senate that the loan request would not lead to increase in the public debt portfolio of the country,
According to him , the substitution of domestic debt with relatively cheaper and longer term external debt will lead to a significant decrease in debt service cost, adding that the proposed refinancing of domestic debt through external debt will also achieve more stability in the debt stock while also creating more borrowing space in the domestic market for the private sector.
”It is important to note that the proposed sourcing of three billion dollars loan from external sources to refinance maturing domestic debt will not lead to an increase in the public debt portfolio because the debt already exists, albeit in the form of high interest short term domestic debt”.He wrote.
However, terms and conditions of the borrowing as indicated in the letter can only be determined at the point of issuance of finalization based on prevailing market conditions in the International Capital Market.
President Buhari futher urged the Senate to give the request expeditious consideration and ,as he reminded them to note that the external loan terms is a market based transaction specifically determined by the timing and prevailing conditions of the capital market at the time .
Meanwhile, Senate yesterday approved a budget of N152.8 billion for the 2017 expenditure of the Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS).
The approved budget indicates
a total of N31 billion representing 20.33 of the total budget mapped out for capital budget.
Following the report and recommendation of the Senate Finance committee, the Senate approved N75.8 billion as personnel cost which is 49.58 percent, N46 billion for overhead cost also of 30.09 percent.
The personnel cost however increased from N51.8 billion in 2016, to N75.8 billion in 2017 due “to the planned recruitment of 700 additional staff in 2017 and upward review of salary by 30% as approved by Salary, Wages and Income Commission,”
The FIRS has a projection of N4.9 trillion of revenue in its 2017 budget.
The Nigerian Senate also approved the sum of N270.5billion budget for the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) for the year 2017.
The NPA also has a revenue projection of N288.7billion in the year 2017
Also N161.9 billion was approved for the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) with a projected revenue of N161.9 billion for 2017.
In his remarks at plenary, the President of the Senate , Bukola Saraki noted that it is necessary for revenue generating agencies to live up to their mandates as this would reduce the need for borrowing by the Federal Government.
Saraki said the Senate would ensure through its oversight functions that the agencies live up to expectations.
Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi
News
I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
News
RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
News
Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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