The Nigerian Senate has distanced itself from news making the round that the Upper Chamber approved a new loan for the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The Senate clarified the news about approving the fresh loan in a post via its official Twitter handle.
The tweet reads, “No Fresh Loan of N850bn Approved by Senate, It is essential to make a critical clarification particularly on the widely circulated erroneous report that the Senate approved a fresh loan of N850 billion at the Plenary on Tuesday.
Senate Denies Approving Fresh 850 Billion Naira Loan
According to the tweet, the clarification was curled from a statement signed by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Dr Ajibola Basiru.
In another tweet, the Senate said, “However, because of the COVID-19 Pandemic and of the challenge in the international oil market with the attendant difficulties of raising the approved loan externally, the President requested that the approved loan should rather be raised through the Domestic Capital Market.
It was the above request as to sourcing the earlier approved external borrowing of N850bn from Domestic Capital Market that was approved by the Senate.
Earlier, the Senate had noted that the Coronavirus pandemic had affected the Nation’s budget for the year 2020, owing to falling oil prices, and a reduction in economic activities, which has led to an enormous loss of revenue.
