The Senator who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th Assembly, Shehu Sani, has revealed reasons behind the rejection of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 29.96 billion loan request by the Senate President Bukola Saraki-led Senate.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that on Thursday, President Buhari had written to the Senate, seeking approval for the said loan request.
In the request letter, Mr Buhari informed the upper legislative chamber that the borrowed fund would be used to fund 39 emergency projects in the power, agriculture, road and mining sectors of the nation’s economy.
READ ALSO: APC’s Uba Sani declared winner in Kaduna Central Senatorial District
However, in a statement on Friday, Mr Sani, who was a chairman of the Senate committee on local and foreign debts, said the Senate at the time rejected the request to save Nigeria from being “recolonised by creditor banks”.
“We turned down the FG loan request for $30 Billion to save Nigeria from sinking into the dark gully of a perpetual debt trap,” he said.
“We don’t want our country to be recolonized by creditor banks.”
Sani, who represented Kaduna central at the senate, said the country’s external debt stands at $22.08 billion as of June this year — from $10.32 billion in 2015.
He warned that borrowing further would jeopardise Nigeria’s future.
“With the current escalation of borrowing, we will be walking into debt slavery and move from landlords to tenants in our country,” he said.
“They will always tell you that even America is borrowing and I don’t know how rational is it to keep on borrowing because Another country is borrowing.
“If we keep listening to Bankers and contractors we will keep borrowing and burying ourselves and leave behind for our children a legacy of debt burden.
“Loans are not charities. Most of those encouraging more borrowing are parasitic consultants, commission agents, rents seeking fronts and contractors. We must be cautious.”
