The Presidency has explained that President Bola Tinubu did not present a loan request of $21 billion to the National Assembly.
The Senior Special Assistant to Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said the President only presented a borrowing plan to NASS on Tuesday.
Naija News reports that Ajayi, on his ๐ handle on Wednesday, condemned what he described as false reports circulating in the media concerning the borrowing plan.
Tinubuโs Aide stressed that the borrowing plan did not equate to a loan request. He said the loan may or may not be taken.
He stated that the plan was presented to NASS in line with President Tinubuโs fiscal responsibility.
โYesterday, President Bola Tinubu sent a communication to the National Assembly on the Federal Government and State Governments borrowing plan for 2025-2026 for consideration and approval. The material facts in the communication to NASS have been misrepresented and misreported.
โA borrowing plan doesnโt amount to taking $21 billion loan. It only shows a plan of what can be borrowed and where the loans will come from for specific projects that are important to the federal and state governments. The plan also shows what will be borrowed by the FG in 2025. The loan that the FG should take in the first quarter 2025 has not even been taken up till now and may be rolled into the second half of the year. A plan to borrow money does not mean a loan will be taken at the end of it all. Even when specific loans are eventually taken, the drawdown has project timelines and milestones that will take between 5-6 years.
โIt is part of fiscal responsibility to fully lay out borrowing plans before the National Assembly whether the loans will be taken or not. Instead of the news reports to be nuanced and contextual, virtually every news outlet went to town that Tinubu wants to borrow $21 billion dollars and all manners of public affairs analysts and โexpertsโ have been running commentaries on the basis of misrepresentation of facts,โ he explained.
Ajayi further appealed to the media to prioritize accurate and factual reportage.
โWe should do better by presenting information accurately and factually to the public,โ he added.
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