The Nigerian Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has come out to support the Nigerian Government’s borrowing spree while also stating that the federal government can’t continue to increase taxes to fund infrastructural projects. ayokinews.com reports
Sen. Ahmed Lawan made this known during an interview with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday 24th June, 2021.
He made it known that his 9th Senate would not be frivolous in granting the loans as the loans would go through proper scrutiny to make sure it’s in the best interest of Nigerians.
Speaking on the said, “We’ll have the loan request from Mr. President. The loan request is to fund the 2021 Appropriation Act and of course, this is not a new request. It’s something that we have passed in the MTEF and it’s something that when we pass the budget 2021, we also passed that.
“What I want to assure Nigerians here is that we are not going to be frivolously supporting or approving loans for the executive arm of government. Our options are really very limited as a country. First, we don’t have the necessary revenues, Nigeria is poor; we shouldn’t deceive ourselves.
“You cannot, in my view and judgement, tax Nigerians further for you to raise the money for infrastructure development. Other countries do that, but we have serious situations across the country; so, you cannot put taxes on people,” Sen. Ahmed Lawan said.