I can bet, no one wants to hear about borrowing from the federal government, owing to the fact that the previous borrowing has not been used for the reason it was proposed for.
The Senate on Tuesday strongly condemned the Federal Ministry of Health's proposal to raise $ 200 million as part of the malaria program to buy mosquito nets in the 2022 budget.
Senator Gershom Bassey, a member of the Senate Health Committee, pronounced the conviction while defending the Federal Department of Health's 2022 budget
Bassey insisted on telling Secretary of State Mahmuda Mamman that the proposal to buy mosquito nets was a big deal and expressed concern that the $ 200 million borrowing is outrageous.
The committee's conviction came in response to an earlier submission by the Permanent Secretary to borrow the amount to purchase mosquito nets.
The panel also asked about the agency's overall needs to determine if there was any need for credit.
For further clarification, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, stated that the US $ 200 million was for the import and local production of mosquito nets.
Health Committee Chairman Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, in his response, stated that the idea of borrowing money from the World Bank was "money and work for boys" by someone in Washington DC, adding that his advisory services were being provided to the lower level of state and local government.
In other news, the senate is also kicking against the presidency from taking a $700 million loan for its proposed water project.
President Muhammadu's request to borrow $ 700 million was denied Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, chaired by Senator Uba Sani.
Buhari had previously applied for loan approval to allow its administration to begin sustainable urban and rural water, sanitation and sanitation (SURWASH) in 2022 under the supervision of the Ministry of Water Resources.
The rejection came less than 24 hours after the Department of Health requested $ 200 million to purchase mosquito nets, which were included in the budget bill submitted to the Senate.
Committee members criticized the idea of applying for a loan to finance sustainable water supply, sanitation, and sanitation in urban and rural areas, noting that there were enough loans that the country had funded.
Committee chairman Senator Clifford Ordia said three different loans had been approved for different water supply projects.
$ 450 million for the Department of Water's project funded by the African Development Bank and an additional $ 6 million loan under the Integrated Development Program, also funded by the African Development Bank and the Gurara Water Project.
"You have to tell us what you're doing with $ 700 million in water projects,"Ordia said,
The committee, therefore, agreed to convene the Minister of Water Resources, Adamu Suleiman, to explain the loans and the status of the loans taken out so far.
Another committee member, Senator Obinna Ogba, stepped up vehemently, arguing that Nigerians are not getting water despite the huge loans they have received in the past.
He said, "this loan, I no longer support this one, that's enough".
Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe also opposed the loan, asking about the criteria for selecting beneficiary states, adding that the ministry's permanent secretary did not provide sufficient information to justify the loan.
Oloriegbe asked: "What are the criteria for choosing the recipient states, the information you provide is insufficient, what projects would you like to carry out with $ 640 million and how much water will you do?"