Senate Approves $75 M World Bank Loan For Edo State

The Senate has approved the $75 million dollar World Bank loan for Edo State.
 
President Muhammadu Buhari had written to the Senate requesting the approval of the upper chamber to obtain $75 million credit facility from the World Bank for Edo State.

“I am writing to seek the consideration of the national assembly of Nigeria on approval of a request by the Edo state government‎ to obtain a $75 million credit facility from the World Bank,” the president wrote in a letter read on the floor of the upper chamber by Bukola Saraki, Senate President.

This is the second batch of the loan, as the first batch of 75 million dollars was earlier released for the implementation of the 2012 to 2014 development programme.

The Senate set up an Ad Hoc Committee on Local and Foreign Debts to consider the loan request and report back to the Senate.

Presenting the report of the committee at plenary, the Chairman of the Committee Sen Kabiru Gaya said the Edo State Government has reasonably justified the borrowing and has acceptable debt sustainability level.

However a federal lawmaker from Edo State, Sen Mathew Urhoghide, argued that there is a need for the Senate to verify some of the claims made by the state government on the usage of the first tranche of the loan.