The federal government says the $300 million loan it is obtaining from the International Development Association (IDA) to fund the power sector is different from the $500 million loan from the World Bank it asked the National Assembly to approve last week.
It also apologised to the legislature for not asking for approval for the fresh loan, which generated a heated debate in the House of Representatives last week.
The House had approved the $500 million loan request by President Umaru Yar'Adua to fund the first supplementary budget, which he proposed last week.
A report read by the House Chairman on Rules and Business, Ita Enang, during the plenary session yesterday, quoted the Minister of Finance, Mukhtar Mansur, as apologising to the lawmakers for tabling the loan request before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting before seeking the approval of the House in line with the Debt Management Establishment Act.
Dino Melaye (PDP, Kogi) had last week raised an alarm on the floor of the House that the executive council approved a loan of $300 million from the International Development Association to fund the power sector without the approval of the National Assembly.
The lawmaker told his colleagues that Mr. Mansur and his counterparts in the ministries of power, justice, and power as well as officials of the Debt Management Office (DMO) and Power Holding Company (PHCN) entered into negotiations with the development association between May 11 and 13 this year after which the President asked them to implement the negotiations.
According to Mr. Melaye, the negotiations were in violation of Sections 21 (1) and 22 (3) of the Debt Management Establishment Act, because they did not consult the National Assembly on its plan to take the loan.
He insisted that the $300 million loan is different from the $500 million loan request earlier by Mr. Yar'Adua.
Consequently, the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, asked the committees on finance, appropriation and local and foreign debts to meet and report their position to the House. Mr. Enang was asked to coordinate the meeting, which was also attended by Mr. Melaye.
Write the house
Presenting the report, which he later laid on the table, Mr. Enang said the committees met with Mr. Mansur and officials of the debt management office on Monday during which the finance minister said the federal government actually negotiated for a fresh loan.
He also quoted the minister as saying that there has been no commitment made on the proposed request, but that it was only brought to the notice of the President.
When Mr. Bankole asked him to comment on the report, Mr. Melaye vowed that he would still sponsor a motion urging the House to declare the $300 million loan null and void.
"I told him (the minister) so," he said.
He said that if the government was still interested in taking the loan, they should first write to the House for approval.