$30bn Loan Neccessary to Catalyse Development – Senator Olamilekan Adeola
The lawmaker representing Lagos West Senatorial District, Olamilekan Adeola, has said the plan by the Federal Government to borrow about $30bn was a necessary step to catalyse development.
Adeola, who is Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, stated this in Lagos while speaking with journalists at the End-of the-Year-Party he organised for residents of his Lagos West Senatorial constituency.
While stating that concerns raised in some quarters about the loan were not necessary, Adeola said the facility was needed to promote the economy.
He further said the loan was necessary to fund many ambitious on-going projects across the country, which would impact greatly on the economy and lives of Nigerians when completed.
”The 30 billion dollar loan the Federal Government is sourcing for is not one of those frivolous loans; this is a loan that is tied to projects.
”This loan is needed to fund landmark and ambitious projects such as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the East-West Road, the Second Niger Bridge, among others.
”We need a large chunk of money to get all these projects completed. So, it is only if the government access this loan that we can give all these great projects in the right direction.
”Again, the government needs this loan to execute those projects that would impact and transform the economy and put the country on the path of progress. So, the loan is necessary,” he said.
While noting that Nigeria was faced with a serious infrastructural deficit that would be substantially reduced with the government accessing the loan, he said the 9th National Assembly was working in tandem with the executive to deliver on all on-going projects across the country.
The lawmaker also said that the country’s economy was on the course of progress, and it would even get better with the policies of the executive and the interventions of the National Assembly.
Speaking on the return of the budget cycle to January to December, Adeola said it would significantly promote the development of the country.
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”The economy is moving in the right direction; the economy is blossoming. We in the ninth assembly just succeeded in returning the budget cycle to January to December, and with this, we have ensured all that needs to be done in a calendar year can be achieved.
”There is no more haphazard budget implementation; we now have a full year budget implementation, which runs from January to December,” he said.
