President Bola Tinubu has urged the Senate to hasten its grant of approval of $20.51 billion and €1.45 billion in external borrowing, explaining that the funds are important to close financing gaps in the Federal Government’s 2026–2027 supplementary borrowing plan.
The President’s appeal was contained in a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, read during plenary on Tuesday.
Tinubu said the borrowing is critical to enable government meet its obligations to Nigerians and execute key projects in infrastructure, power, transportation, healthcare, security, agriculture, water supply and education.
He said the plan will also drive food security and job creation across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“I submit here, the attached Federal Government 2026–2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan for consideration and early approval of the National Assembly to ensure prompt implementation of our projects,” Tinubu said.
According to him, the projects were selected after rigorous technical and economic evaluations of their impact on socioeconomic development, job creation, skills acquisition, entrepreneurship, poverty reduction and food security.
He warned that without substantial infrastructure investment, the country’s longstanding development challenges will persist.
“In light of the need for significant infrastructure investment in the country and the vast financial resources needed to address this gap, it has become essential to pursue prudent external borrowings to close the financing shortfall,” he stated.
Tinubu pressed the National Assembly for early approval to ensure prompt disbursement and implementation.Access Services
Responding, Akpabio noted that the borrowing plan had featured in earlier budget arrangements, adding that the request would be referred to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, potentially working with the Committees on Appropriations and Finance.
“The borrowing plan is attached, but of course, this was even earlier approved in our budget, and also the external borrowing plan was approved as far back as 2025 to 2027, I think to 2028 or thereabout,” Akpabio said.
