By Baron Ike
President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman, Femi Adesina has assured that the Presidency will represent the borrowing request to the National Assembly (NASS) after the first attempt a fortnight ago failed.
Buhari is requesting the NASS to approve his intent to borrow about $30billion from outside the country to deal with the economic situation in the country. The request is yet to be granted because of technical error discovered in the documentation sent to the senate by the presidency.
Adesina says the Presidency will provide details requested for by the Senate and re-present Buhari’s borrowing request earlier returned by the Senate for lacking details.
He gave a hint on Sunday, November 13, about the preparedness of the Presidency to re-present the document to the Senate while speaking on Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today.
“You notice that what the Senate said was that it needed more details about that bid for loan. It was not that it rejected it completely.
“If on the basis of that you do not re-present, it does not show you as a serious government in the first place.
“This is not a flippant government and before it asked for that kind of loan, it did its homework properly and if the Senate says it needs more details, that will be provided and re-presented.”
Speaking on the likelihood of political undertone to the request that led to the return of the document the President’s spokesman said: “It is not about pride or individuals’ interests, but it is about our country. The Presidency is out to serve the people.
“It is an opinion of somebody in the Senate to say that the loan request document was shoddy
“You do not know at any particular time what is motivating that person to speak.
“At any given time, they are under-currents and you need to understand them at any given time”.
“I meant politics. But what should be at play now should be national interest rather than politics.
“I think that politics is coming too much into play rather than the interest of the people”.
He also said the Presidency was planning to forward the 2015 budget to the National Assembly soon.
“We are recording better timing as regards the budget and it will come as soon as possible,” he said.