NEWS Amid APC Opposition, Senate Approves $1bn Loan to Fight Insurgency 26 Sep 2014 Font Size: a / A Senate Chambers Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja Despite stiff opposition from senators of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Senate yesterday approved the $1 billion loan requested by President Goodluck Jonathan to fight the insurgency. Jonathan had on July 16 sent a letter seeking the Senate’s nod to secure a $1 billion loan to enable his government upgrade military equipment in its bid to conquer the Boko Haram insurgency. Yesterday’s approval followed the presentation of the report of the Joint Committee on Finance, Foreign and Local Debt by the joint committee’s chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi. According to the report, approving the request became necessary in view of the urgent need to stamp out the insurgency and “restore full normalcy to the country”. Makarfi also said the committee found out that the request was not for a cash loan but for the supply of military hardware to be paid back within a period of seven years. Furthermore, the senator said the grace to secure the facility without paying cash was an uncommon opportunity, noting that it is not every country or supplier that can agree to such terms. The report stated that it was in the nations “interest to take up the opportunity and not allow it slip away”. Explaining that the request for the loan had a ceiling of $1 billion, which would not all be utilised immediately, Makarfi said the request had security implications, hence all information about it could not be put in the report. According to him, the loan would be used for the acquisition of helicopters, ships, armament and other military hardware, observing that 12 M135 helicopters are meant to be secured through the facility. Giving further reasons why the loan should be approved, Makarfi said the committee found out that whereas the number of helicopters in the fleet of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) was inadequate for effective deployment, helicopters remain crucial for decisive victory over the insurgents. He added that because of the terrain and nature of operations to be undertaken, instant victory could not be achieved without the use of helicopters. He also said the committee had observed that inadequate funds for maintenance, the recent burning of two helicopters by insurgents at Maiduguri, and non-availability of new helicopters in the fleet of the air force since 1998, contributed to the problem. The committee reported further that while Belarus had accepted to supply Nigeria the needed helicopters in instalments, other hardware, armaments and equipment would be bought under similar terms of agreement from other European countries. However, the approval was marred by altercations between Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators and their APC counterparts, as the latter opposed the approval, arguing that the president had not followed laid down guidelines on borrowing. The opposing debate was kick-started by Senator Olubunmi Adetumbi (Ekiti North), who defied an appeal from Senate President David Mark that the request be approved without stretching the underlying security implications. Adetumbi had raised a constitutional point of order, citing Section 81(4) of the 1999 Constitution, which authorises the president to present a supplementary budget to the National Assembly if he deems it necessary, arguing that the president should have presented a supplementary budget instead of a loan request. He also cited Section 83 of the constitution, which states that the National Assembly may approve such proposals for the purpose of meeting necessary needs. He further cited Section 41(a,b) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act as well as Sections 42 (1,8); 44 (1,2,3) of the Act, which according to him, spells out the guidelines for borrowing. He also reminded the senators that the borrowing plan of the country is contained in Nigerias Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), and questioned if the loan was within the current MTEF framework or whether it had to be amended and a supplementary appropriation for purposes of security be brought to the National Assembly for its approval. But Makarfi, in a swift reaction, countered Adetumbis submission, saying the sections of the constitution he cited were irrelevant to the issue at stake, more so that the supply would not be done in cash and was in accordance with Public Procurement Act. He insisted that since the payment would still be appropriated by the National Assembly, all his submissions were unnecessary. He said the loan would not translate to a cash inflow or outflow, pointing out: “You are taking goods on credit and the request said we are paying over seven years and each year we are going to make payment, it is going to be in the Appropriation Act. The National Assembly will have to appropriate the payment; the executive cannot just go outright and pay. “Besides, what is required is in compliance with the Public Procurement Act but we are not required to see the compliance of that Public Procurement Act. The relevant committees, in doing their work, can follow up and see that there is compliance with the Public Procurement Act,” Makarfi said. Also speaking, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, urged the opposition lawmakers to yield to the loan request, noting that it would not be a good record for them that while PDP senators support the battle against the insurgency, APC senators were by their action, against it. But Senator Babafemi Ojudu (Ekiti Central) cited Order 53(7, 8) of the Senate Standing Rules, which states that a senator shall not malign the personality of his colleague, describing Ekweremadu’s comment as insulting. In his response, Mark said Ojudu’s point of order was not sustainable because there was nothing in Ekweremadu’s comment that had impugned on the former’s personality. But Minority Leader, George Akume, echoed Adetumbi, saying the sections of the constitution he cited were superior to the Procurement Act earlier cited by Makarfi and urged the senate president to be guided by the constitution. He also asked him to answer the question asked by Adetumbi. But Mark said the fact that Adetumbi had cited some sections of the constitution did not imply that the sections were relevant. According to him, nobody was being forced to approve the request but approval would be dependent on the response to his question. He also said he was not a lawyer neither was the chamber a courtroom. “The question you ask is whether Adetunmbi is right in what he said or not, and the simple answer is, no, he is not right. So please merely quoting the constitution does not make him right. “I will take a few comments and I will put the question to a voice vote because this is democracy. I am not a lawyer and so I can’t say that these are legal issues and if they are legal issues, they have to be addressed separately. Our understanding here is not exactly like the case in the court of law,” Mark said. Thereafter, Mark called for a voice vote and those in support of the approval were in the majority, thus sealing the approval on the loan request.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 07:16:20 +0000
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