• As Obasanjo tells Buhari: We’re yet to see results of your initiatives

Another round of crisis appears to be brewing between the executive and the federal legislature over the present administration’s plan to borrow $29.96bn from external sources, The PUNCH has learnt.

President Muhammadu Buhari had, on Tuesday last week, asked the National Assembly to approve the external borrowing plan to enable his government to raise funds to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between now and 2018.

Economic experts, opposition Peoples Democratic Party and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), among others, have however kicked against the borrowing plan, saying the amount was too huge.

Our correspondent gathered exclusively on Sunday that many lawmakers were currently not favourably disposed to approving the plan.

The lawmakers opposed to the loan were said to include members of the ruling All Progressives Congress and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

It was further learnt that while the aggrieved APC lawmakers might not want to openly oppose the President’s request on the floor of the House, they were allegedly collaborating with their colleagues from the PDP behind the scene to oppose the plan.

A source told our correspondent on condition of anonymity on Sunday that the rising opposition to the request was responsible for the inability of the Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, to present the government’s Medium Term Expenditure Framework to the lawmakers so far.

The lawmakers’ grouse, the source explained, was that Buhari did not indicate, in his letter seeking approval for the external borrowings, that part of the loans would be used to finance their zonal intervention programmes otherwise known as constituency projects.

He added that the problem was further compounded by a recent statement, credited to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal, that the government would not execute constituency projects.

The source added, “Before approving the borrowing plan, the lawmakers want a commitment from the government that those constituency projects would be executed.

“That was why the House leadership met with the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma; Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun; and the Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze, sometime last week.

“At the meeting, held inside the Speaker’s office, there was no commitment from the government officials as they needed to go back and report to the President. So there was no concrete outcome from that meeting.”

It was against this background that Gbajabiamila, who was said to have interfaced with some APC members on the matter, decided to approach the President in order to nip in the bud possible crisis over the loans.

To achieve his aim, it was learnt that the House Leader decided to join Buhari to observe Jumat prayers inside a mosque located inside the Presidential Villa last Friday.

Gbajabiamila was accompanied by two members of the House of Representatives – the member representing Zango/Buare Federal Constituency of Katsina State, Nasiru Daura, and member, representing Suleja, Tafa and Gurara Federal Constituency, Lado Suleja.

They were said to have met briefly with the President after the prayer in the presence of Senator Abu Ibrahim, representing Katsina South Senatorial District.

“It was not really a formal meeting. They talked after the prayers and you know Mr. President is a man of few words. There was also no tangible commitment from the President on the matter,” the source added.

The leadership of the House is said to be envisaging a rancorous session by the time the President’s request is be debated.

It was learnt that members of the APC caucus in the House of Representatives are expected to meet during which they were expected to be prevailed upon not to join their PDP colleagues in rejecting the President’s request.

Another source in the Presidency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in reaching out to members of the National Assembly, Buhari would not be drawn into giving out money to ensure safe passage for the plan.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, promised to cross-check with relevant government officials and get back to our correspondent when his view was sought on Sunday.

When contacted on Sunday, Gbajabiamila’s media aide, Mr. Olanrewaju Smart, confirmed that the House Leader and Buhari met regularly on “state matters” and he was not always privy to their discussions.

“The Leader of the House of Representatives visits the President on state matters from time to time and I am not always privy to their discussions,” he said.

On what Gbajabiamila was doing to ensure that Buhari’s loan request was approved, Smart said, “The House is looking at the President’s request and it will be tabled soon.”

Buhari had, in a letter read on the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, said the approval of this request would ensure the implementation of projects that cut cross across all sectors of the economy.

The letter read in part, “I wish to refer to the above subject and to submit the attached draft of the Federal Government 2016-2018 external borrowing plan for consideration and early approval by the National Assembly to ensure prompt implementation of projects.

“The projects cut across all sectors with special emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation, poverty reduction through social safety net programmes and governance and financial management reforms among others.

“The total of the projects and programmes under the borrowing (rolling) plan is $29.960bn, made up of proposed projects and programmes loan of $11.274bn; special national infrastructure projects, $10.686bn; Euro bonds of $4.5bn and Federal Government budget support of $3.5bn.”

In the meantime, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on the Federal Government led by Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the results of its development initiatives are felt by Nigerians.

Obasanjo, who was one of the keynote speakers at the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum, which held on Saturday in Lagos, commended the government for its programmes aimed at creating jobs and diversifying the economy.

Obasanjo said, “What you say you are doing is commendable, please let us see the results. We have to ensure that doing business in Nigeria is easy. We have to make them (investors) come to Nigeria. We need to be able to register a company at a one-stop shop.”

Earlier, the Minister for Information and Tourism, Lai Mohammed, stated that the government was moving the economy from being a mono-product economy to investing in agriculture, mining and solid minerals sectors, among others.

Also addressing the 1, 000 entrepreneurs of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the Group Managing Director, Rose of Sharon Group, Folorunso Alakija, advised them to pursue their businesses with passion, adding that they should be ready to take risks. She said, “The hallmark of any entrepreneur is the ability to take risks. You need to fight yourself, friends, competition and government in order to succeed.”

Also addressing, Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, and Deputy Governor, Ebonyi State, Kelechi Igwe, at the event, the ex-president said there was the need to support entrepreneurs in their states to develop products that would be fit for export.

Punch with additional report from The Citizen