Nigeria Content Online

A motion to approve
the $4.427 billion loan requested by Goodluck Jonathan was dramatically
suspended yesterday in the House of Representatives after lawmakers
made clear moves to vote it down.

In a letter last
week, President Jonathan had urged the the National Assembly to approve
the amount, being the balance of the total $5.242 billion loan earlier
approved by the lawmakers. The legislators had earlier approved $915
million in April, 2010, leaving out the balance to roll up total
federal loan plan for 2010.

The amount, the
president said, will be channelled to “negotiated, appraised and
pipeline projects.” But after a prolonged debate on the motion Tuesday,
the House put the request aside for future consideration, after many
members spoke against it and voted to block the loan during preliminary
voice count.

The Speaker, Dimeji
Bankole, said the motion would be considered later because it was
“obvious that we need to do more work on this motion.” The request,
like others, has shored up concerns about reverting the nation to huge
external and internal debt profile, after struggling to ease off the
burden under the administration of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Increasing debt profile

Nigeria’s local
debt profile has shot to $16 billion while foreign debt stands at about
$4 billion dollars, according to John Enoh, the Chairman of the House
Committee on Finance. The nation’s foreign reserves stands at $35
billion, an about 50 per cent drop in the last two years.

Lawmakers
questioned the relevance of the relief and the projects for which they
are earmarked for, according to the president’s proposals.

Part of the plan
includes $20 million for the development of national response to
HIV/AIDS pandemic. Another clause proposes $12 million for “state
governance capacity building project II” in 14 states of the federation
and another $15 million dollars for “national urban water sector reform
project II” in five states.

$105.5 million dollar of the sum would be applied to “economic and power sector reform,” and several other projects.

“At this age, how can we borrow money for AIDS control?” asked Ita Enang, the chairman House committee on Business and Rules.

The loan is to be
sourced from the International Development Association [IDA], African
Development Bank (ADB), Islamic Development Bank, International Fund
for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Export Import Bank of China,
according to the president’s letter.

Lawmakers warned against hidden terms attached to the loans, urging
the House committees to give close attention to every term stated and
their desirability, before pushing for final approval.