Senate approves N10bn FG loan to Kogi State

Nigeria Senate on Wednesday approved the payment of a N10 billion loan to Kogi State.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, October 15 asked the Senate to approve the payment of N10.069billion as a settlement of promissory note to the Kogi State Government.

Nigeria Senate Ahmad Lawan read Buhari’s letter of request during the plenary session.

“Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan reads a letter from Mr President requesting for the resolution of the National Assembly on the issuance of N10.069billion for promissory note programme of Kogi State and a Bond issuance to settle inherited debt,” Nigerian Senate tweeted.

A promissory note is a debt instrument which one party promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other, either at a fixed or determinable future time, under specific terms.

The approval for the loan was criticised by Senators of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who questioned the approval of the loan two days before the state governorship election.

Minority Leader Senator Enyinaya Abaribe asked the Senate to delay the approval until next week when the Kogi State governorship election holding on Saturday would have been concluded.

“There is no harm in approving this money. Let the approval be delayed by just a week,” Abaribe said.

“What I don’t want is the misuse of these funds because it is for the people of the Kogi State. This is not the right time, this is the time where the exigencies of the moment may be used.”

But Senate President Ahmed Lawan disagreed saying the loan request for Kogi state came in the 8th assembly and has been delayed enough.

“Kogi State applied for this in the last Senate, all the other states were paid. Kogi was not approved at that time, we as a Senate has seen as a necessity and it is a coincidence,” Lawan said.