President Bola Tinubu has approached the House of Representatives for approval to secure external loans worth $20.52bn and €1.045bn to finance development projects under the Federal Government’s 2026–2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Rolling Plan.
The request was conveyed in a letter read by the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, during Wednesday’s plenary. Tinubu urged lawmakers to give the proposal urgent consideration to facilitate the implementation of the planned projects.
The President put the proposed facilities at $20,517,755,901 and €1,045,083,643, stating that details of the individual borrowing arrangements had been submitted to the House for scrutiny.
According to Tinubu, the funds would support programmes in infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, education, water supply, security and job creation, among other critical sectors.
He explained that the proposed borrowing was informed by the need to sustain the administration’s reform agenda, accelerate economic growth and address the country’s infrastructure shortfalls.
The President said the projects had undergone technical and economic assessments to determine their relevance to national development, adding that they were expected to generate employment, promote entrepreneurship and skills acquisition, reduce poverty and improve food security.
Tinubu noted that most of the proposed interventions would be implemented across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with priority given to critical infrastructure, including power, transportation and healthcare.
He argued that the scale of investment required to bridge Nigeria’s infrastructure gap made additional external financing necessary, while emphasising the importance of timely disbursement and effective project execution.
Following the presentation of the letter, the House referred the request to a joint committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management and Appropriations, chaired by Abubakar Nalaraba, for further legislative consideration.
The committee is expected to examine the proposed facilities, their terms and intended uses, as well as their implications for public finances, before reporting back to the House for further action.
Source: PUNCH
