Reps approve $1bn loan to fight Boko Haram

The House of Repre­sentatives yesterday, approved President Goodluck Jonathan’s $1 billion loan request for the purchase of equipment to fight insurgency. The Senate had earlier ap­proved the loan request.
The House members okayed all four clauses contained in the report of the House Com­mittees on Aids, Loans and Debt Management and Fi­nance on the external borrow­ing of not more than $1 billion, “to tackle the national security challenges in the country.”

The lawmakers had last week asked the National Se­curity Adviser to provide the breakdown of allocations ap­portioned to the Nigerian Air force, Navy, Army, Depart­ment of State Services (DSS), the Police and Nigeria Intelli­gence Agency (NIA).
They also requested the country’s Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to provide information on the sources of funds, terms and conditions of the loan. A de­tail of the tenure and interest repayment was also requested from the minister.
The president had, on July 16, written to the National As­sembly, seeking approval to borrow $1 billion (N168 bil­lion) to fight Boko Haram. In the letter, Jonathan harped on the need for external borrow­ing to enable the upgrade of security equipment in order to fight the insurgency ravag­ing the country, particularly the North East, adding that the $1 billion would also be used to train the military and other security officers.
“You are no doubt aware of the ongoing and serious secu­rity challenges which the na­tion is facing, as typified by the Boko Haram terrorist threat. This is an issue that we have discussed at various times.”