Senate Cautions  Ministries Over Loans 

The Senate  has  government ministries and agencies seeking permission to access foreign loans and seeking approval for their 2021 budget proposals.

The Senate through two of its standing committees asked the affected MDAs to provide detailed explanation on the execution of previous fiscal provisions.

While the Committee on local and foreign debts asked the Ministries of Agriculture, Finance and Debt Management office to furnish it with details before it approves over 995million Euros and $1.5billion foreign loans the Ministry was seeking, before it is approved, the Senate Committee on FCT, suspended approval of the N8.5billion 2021 budget proposal tabled before it by FCT – IRS.

The Committee on local and foreign debt equally frowned at the request by the Agriculture Ministry for two segments of foreign loans aimed at upscaling Mechanized farming and execution of critical infrastructure across the 36 states of the federation in preventing the third wave of COVID – 19.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohmmamed Sabo Nanono and the Director-General of Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha, could not provide satisfactory answers to committee members on the Ministry’s preparedness for the loans.

The plan of actions tabled before the Committee by the Minister of Agriculture on the 995million Euros loans being sought for Agricultural Mechanization across the 774 local government councils in the country, was faulted by Committee members led by Senator Clifford Ordia ( PDP Edo Central) .

The Agriculture Minister had stated that out of the 92million hectares of cultivable land available in the country, only 34 million hectares are utilized now, 780 service centres have been set up across the country for mechanized farming.

In his justification for the loan, Nanono disclosed that “the Ministry is seriously in bilateral partnership with Brazil where 300 tractors are to be bought and imported for the project this year once the loan is approved.

But the committee members from Senator Uba Sani ( APC Kaduna Central ), Birma Enagi ( APC Niger South), Adelere Oriolowo ( APC Osun West ), Francis Alimikhena ( APC Edo North) etc, told the Minister that beautiful plans are different from practical Implementation.

 Senator Oriolowo told the Minister that based on personal experience, the plans he tabled before them will not yield any positive results.

” The tractors you are planning to bring from Brazil, will in no distant time, run aground by people who are not trained for proper usage of such machines as it happened in Osun and Borno States recently.

” Capacity building is very important for people to be engaged in the Mechanised farming, which we didn’t hear from your presentation and besides, are you in touch with the real farmers who if involved, will make the project impactful.

” Beautiful plans like the ones you have just unfolded, are not new in this country. Please rejig the plans to be in tune with productivity needs of the real or rural farmers if you don’t want the money being sought for to go down in drains “, he said.

On the $1.5billion loan being sought for the 36 states government and the federal capital Territory,  for the execution of critical infrastructure against the resurgence of COVID – 19 pandemic, the Committee Chairman, Clifford Ordia, directed the DG  DMO, to furnish them with the creditworthiness of the states, which she couldn’t provide.