…Passes harmonised PIB
…As Reps step down consideration of PIB report
The Senate has approved the $8.3 billion (N8,325,536,537) loan request by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Upper Chamber also approved a separate €490 million loan request by the president.
The total amount is part of the 2018 – 2020 external borrowing (rolling) plan of the Federal Government.
The fund was approved yesterday, after the Senate considered the report of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts. Chairman of the committee, Clifford Ordia, presented the report.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in May, asked the National Assembly to approve the loan.
The approval of the loan, he said, would enable projects listed under the 2018-2020 External Borrowing Plan to be financed through sovereign loans from the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), French Development Agency (AFD), Islamic Development Bank, China EXIMBank, China Development Bank, European Investment Bank, European ECA, KfW, lPEX, AFC, India EximBank and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The Senate, also yesterday passed the harmonised Petroleum Industry Bill, (PIB), which was produced by a conference committee of both chambers of the National Assembly last week.
The harmonised version of the PIB was submitted for consideration by the federal lawmakers at plenary.
Prior to the approval of the proposed legislation through voice votes, senators from the South-South geopolitical zone protested against the proposed three percent equity share for the oil host communities.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, however, prevailed on Senator Seriake Dickson to back down on his threat to lead his colleagues to stage a walkout.
It would be recalled that the Senate had argued during the consideration of the report, that the three percent amounted to half a billion dollars.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday resolved to step down the report of the joint Senate and House Harmonisation Committee on PIB, sequel to the protest staged by some aggrieved members.
The resolution was passed during the Executive session held by the House, to resolve the grey arrears bothering on the retainership of the 3% Host Community Fund and additional funding mechanism of 30% of profit oil and profit gas from production sharing contracts (PSCs) in addition to the 10 percent of the rent from petroleum prospecting licences and petroleum mining leases to strengthen the country’s financial capacity to explore the frontier basins, in the report scheduled to be passed by both Chambers.
