President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday requested
the House of Representatives to approve another tranche of $200million World
Bank loan for Lagos State.
The WB had, in 2010, offered a Development
Police Operation facility worth $600m to the state to be operated in three
tranches of $200m per annum.
The President’s request was conveyed in a letter
the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, read to members on the floor, soon after they
resumed from a six-week annual break on Tuesday.
The letter explained that the request was for
the DPO II.
Part of the letter reads, “I seek your support
to facilitate the consideration and early approval of the DPO II loan of the
US$200m to enable the state to consolidate on the gains of the second tranche
of the operation (DPO) II.”
In August, Buhari sent a similar request to the
National Assembly in respect of Edo State.
In the case of Edo State, he requested approval
for $75m in the second tranche of the total of $225m facility the bank offered
Edo State.
The President, in a separate letter read to
members on Tuesday, also sought the approval of the legislature to raise
Nigeria’s proposed Diaspora Bond to $300m.
However, Buhari explained that the raise was
needed to accommodate the “huge amount of capital” required to bridge the
infrastructure gap in the country.
He also informed the House that Nigerians in the
Diaspora had shown interest in the bond.
Buhari stated, “The purpose of this letter,
therefore, is to request approval of the House of Representatives to increase
the amount proposed to be raised through the Diaspora Bond from US$100m to a
maximum of US$300m.”
-Punch
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