A $1 billion loan requested by President Goodluck Jonathan to intensify the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency was yesterday approved by Nigeria’s House of Representatives.
The loan, which was earlier approved by the Senate, comes after a recent reported ceasefire pact declared by the government with the Islamist militants.
Federal lawmakers approved all four clauses contained in the report of the House Committees on Aids, Loans and Debt Management and Finance on the external borrowing of $1 billion “to tackle the national security challenges in the country.”
As contained in the approved report, the House requested the national security adviser (NSA) to provide the breakdown of allocations apportioned to the Nigerian Air Force, Navy, Army, Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
The House also requested the country’s finance minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to provide information on source of funds, terms and conditions of the loan and details of the tenure and interest repayment.
President Jonathan had on July 16 written to the National Assembly seeking approval to borrow the said sum in furtherance of the fight against terrorists in the country.
In the letter, Jonathan spoke about 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.
Jonathan said part of the $1 billion would be used to train the military and other security officers.
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