Senate Refers Oshiomhole’s $75 Million World Bank Loan To Ad Hoc C’ttee

The Senate on Tuesday at plenary referred the request of President Muhammadu Buhari for the approval of $75 million World Bank loan to Edo state to the Ad hoc Committee on Local and Foreign Debt. The Senate had at its resumed plenary constituted a seven-man Ad hoc committee and charged it to consider the request and report back to the Senate today for further legislative consideration. The Members of the Committee include: Senator Kabiru Gaya, who is the Chairman of the Committee; Senator Bukka Abba, Senatir David Umoru, Senator Durofashe, Senator Emmanuel Paulker, Senator, Samuel Anyanwu and Senator Ibrahim Abdullahi. Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had requested the Senate to grant approval to the government of Edo State, to obtain a loan of $75 million from the World Bank. In a letter to the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, which he read on the floor of the Chamber on August 4, 2015, Buhari reminded the lawmakers that the World Bank had aproved a development policy program for the total sum of 225 million dollars to Edo state government in 2012, to be implemented in three tranches of $75 million per annum. He told the Senators that the first tranche of the loan was approved by the National Assembly in the 2012-2014 federal government external rolling borrowing plan. The President also informed the legislators that the Edo State government had successfully implemented the Development Policy Operation (DPO) since 2014. He further explained that, following this success, the World Bank’s Board of executive directors approved the second tranche, noting that on April 29 2015, the DPO was also captured in the federal government’s external borrowing plan of 2014-2017, which is pending with the National Assembly.