by James Sambo
The Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Abdulmumin Jibril, chairman, says that Nigeria may not be able to repay the $1 billion loan due to the unprecedented dip in revenue generation.
Jubril stated this while responding to an inquiry made by speaker Aminu Tambuwal on President Goodluck Jonathan’s request, noting that the loan will be paid back within seven years starting from 2015.
President Goodluck Jonathan had asked the National Assembly to give the government approval to borrow an external loan of $1 billion (N165bn) to purchase the necessary equipments for the armed forces.
Jubril, however, expressed concern over the declining revenue, arguing that the country may not be able to finance the debt as envisaged.
He explained that the committee held a meeting with relevant agencies against the backdrop of the continuous declining revenue of the country to determine repayment for the loan, adding that some of the security agencies for which the supposed equipment were meant for did not know details of the equipment the Federal Government proposed to procure.
He said, “We need to ask questions. We are seeking information from the relevant agencies, some agencies don’t even know what is theirs and they are not pretending about it.”
Responding to his statement, Tambuwal instructed the House Committee on Finance to present the report on the $1 billion to the House by Tuesday, 21 October.
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