President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve $20.51bn and €1.45bn in external borrowing to address funding gaps in the Federal Government’s 2026–2027 supplementary borrowing plan.
The request was conveyed in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and read during plenary on Tuesday.
Tinubu said the proposed borrowing was necessary to enable the Federal Government to meet its obligations to Nigerians and fund critical sectors, including infrastructure, power, transportation, healthcare, security, agriculture, water supply and education.
He said the funds would also support food security and employment generation across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“I submit here, the attached Federal Government 2026–2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan for consideration and early approval of the National Assembly to ensure prompt implementation of our projects,” the President stated.
Tinubu explained that the projects and programmes under the plan were selected following technical and economic evaluations, with consideration given to their expected contributions to Nigeria’s socioeconomic development.
According to him, the initiatives are designed to create jobs, promote skills acquisition and entrepreneurship, reduce poverty, and improve food security.
He argued that substantial investment in infrastructure was necessary to support economic growth and address the country’s longstanding development challenges.
“In light of the need for significant infrastructure investment in the country and the vast financial resources needed to address this gap, it has become essential to pursue prudent external borrowings to close the financing shortfall,” he said.
The President urged the National Assembly to consider the request urgently, saying approval would facilitate timely disbursement of funds and implementation of projects.
Reacting to the request, Akpabio said the borrowing plan had featured in previous budgetary and borrowing arrangements, although he expressed uncertainty about the exact period covered by the earlier approval.
He said the request would be referred to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for consideration, potentially in collaboration with the Committees on Appropriations and Finance.
“The borrowing plan is attached, but of course, this was even earlier approved in our budget, and also the external borrowing plan was approved as far back as 2025 to 2027, I think to 2028 or thereabout,” Akpabio said.
He added that the Committee on Local and Foreign Debts would lead the review of the request before the Senate takes further action.
