The 9th senate has begun the approval process for the $30 billion loan request made by President Buhari. The senate president referred the request to the Committee on Local and Foreign Loans at the plenary.

Lawan gave the Committee two weeks to work on the loan request and report back to the senate.

Buhari had on November 28, resent the $29.96 billion 2016-2018 external borrowing plan to the senate for consideration and approval. The borrowing plan was a bone of contention between the executive and the 8th Senate led by Dr. Bukola Saraki. The 8th senate has rejected it, citing irregularities and lack of programmes to justify the loan.

Speaking to journalists on Monday in Abuja, Lawan said that the senate will approve the loan but will also make sure that it is judiciously used to implement infrastructural programmes that will benefit the Nigerian people.

“The question of whether we will pass or approve the loan request of the executive arm of government, yes, we will pass it. If we don’t have money and you have projects to build them, how will you provide infrastructure that you need?

“But one thing is that, we are going to be critical that every cent that is borrowed is tied to a project. These are projects that will have spillover effects on the economy and we will undertake our oversight so well to ensure that such funds are properly, prudently, economically and transparently applied on those projects,” he said.

When he was reminded that the loan plan was rejected in 2016, which questions the morality behind its approval now, the Senate President said.

“In 2016, there was no submission of details. This time, I think the executive has learnt its lesson and the letter came with sufficient details. Nothing will really militate against the passage of the loan request.”

As justified as the loan may appear this time, it is coming at a time when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and economic experts are warning Nigeria against her rising debts. The debt management office said the total external debt stands at $27.16 billion, $4.27 billion out of it is for states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

This warning was also acknowledged by Lawan himself back in October 23, at the opening session of a two-day public hearing organized by the National Assembly on the 2020 Federal Budget held in Abuja. He warned that the Federal Government’s habit of borrowing is hurting the already fragile economy of the country, and recommended a public-private partnership as an alternative to external borrowing to fund infrastructure.

“We cannot continue to borrow to build our infrastructure; I belong to that school of thought that believes that, where we can have a PPP (Public Private Partnership) to build our infrastructure, we should do that.

“I feel that we can build our road from Abuja to Kaduna or to Kano with private fund and they design a way to collect their money, let us do that. Other countries have done that and it worked. As long as we are not shortchanged, we have to look at it, if we have to borrow, where there is another opportunity we should explore that.”

This was the Senate President’s take on external borrowing, just about two months ago. So it was surprising that despite his preachment of PPP in funding infrastructure, he approved the $29.96 billion loan request from the president without hesitation.

Could there be a quid pro quo?

The suspicion of quid pro quo was stirred by the announcement that Buhari has approved N37 billion for the renovation of the National Assembly complex. The N37 billion, although it found its way into the 2020 budget, was not inclusive of the N128 billion allocated for the National Assembly next year. The money instead is part of the 2020 Federal Capital Development Administration budget.

The National Assembly Complex was built in 1999 at the cost of N7 billion.

Speaking about the renovation of the National Assembly and its funding, Lawan said: “We met the president and it was related to the condition of the complex. The president responded and said he was going to renovate the complex. N37 billion was sourced and was given. It was put under the FCT, not national assembly. All we require is to have the complex renovated.”

The $29.96 billion loan approval by the senate and the N37 billion national assembly complex renovation fund approval by President Buhari are all happening at a time when Nigerians are pointing out that the 2020 National Budget was padded by N264 billion, justified by fraudulent projects. So it is believed to be a “give and take deal” between the executive and the National Assembly.

Premiums Times reported how the budget has been inflated through frivolous self-enrichment projects.

President Buhari has assented to the budget not minding the frivolous figures inserted by lawmakers, and the approval of the requested loan will put the nation’s debt profile at $97 billion (N30 trillion), a huge sum that the future generation will live to pay. The major concern expressed by Nigerians so far is that there may be little or nothing to justify the staggering figures of the debt.

The Nigerian National Broadband Plan Committee for the Development of the 2020-2025 National Broadband Plan has been unveiled by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami.

Pantami constituted a 28 members team chaired by the CEO of MainOne, Funke Opeke and Co-Chaired by former Executive Commissioner, NCC, Dr. Bashir Gwandu, while Engr. Ubale Maska is to serve as Secretary. They were tasked with the goal to establish the needed broadband that will meet the digital needs of the country in line with the world’s standard. The committee is expected to support the national digital economy and ensure that Nigeria attains 70% broadband target by 2025.

The new committee was set up due to the expiration of 2013/18 National Broadband Plan Committee last year.

It could be recalled that on November 30, Pantami signed a letter of intent with the UK government through the prosperity Fund’s Digital Access Programme, as part of efforts to draft the new National Broadband plan. That’s, after President Buhari has unveiled the National Policy for Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a digital Nigeria, on the 28 of November. The eight pillars of the National Broadband are: development regulation, digital literacy and skills, solid infrastructure, service infrastructure, digital services development and promotion, soft infrastructure, digital society and emerging technologies and indigenous content, development and promotion.

To achieve the needed result, the minister promised to involve industry stakeholders through the process of the draft that is expected to conclude at the end of March 2020. Already, the committee is made up of the members of the digital industry who were charged to work on the most significant among the eight pillars and ensure their work reflect on other pillars too.

The importance of increasing investment in fixed broadband was emphasized by the minister as he presented the committee, a fact the World Development Report 2016 acknowledged when it noted that a 10% increase in fixed broadband penetration results in an average increase of 3.19% capita GDP of a country.

“The work of this committee will go a long way in supporting national digital economy policy and strategy for the federal government. In addition, digital economy is strategically dominating the world economy,” he said.

It is predicted that by 2022, 60% of the world economy will be digitalized. And currently, the world digital economy is 11.5 trillion USD, according to Oxford economics. This figure is likely going to double in three years.

Pantami reminded the committee that Nigeria can’t be left behind while the rest of the world moves on digitally. “By 2030, almost 85% of the world economy is going to be digital economy because digital economy is dominating the world.

“You cannot develop and promote digital economy without broadband at your disposal or in your country, that is why we feel it necessary after getting our national broadband in place, we need to immediately see how we can come with another very important strategic committee to work on our national broadband plan so that all hands must be joined together to see how we can penetrate underserved and unserved areas in the country,” he said.

He also reminded the committee that their goal is not only to develop broadband that will meet the current and future needs of the country, but it is also to work toward the digital economic development of the country.

Responding to his admonition, the Chairman of the committee, Funke Opeke said the target of the committee is to achieve at least 65-70% broadband penetration across Nigeria.

“The minister has set the goal and I believe the NCC is in agreement. It is for us to look at what was done during the period of the last committee, look at what the issues and challenges are that still exist, and come up with a plan that allows us achieve the set objectives.

“I believe the objective is achievable with sincerity of purpose and with hard work for these are critical services and infrastructure that we need to bring to all Nigerians and we’re optimistic that we can accomplish that goal. There is work to be done on fixed infrastructure but the reality is, mobile technologies are also progressing quite fast to deliver very capable services to people.

“We see what is going on with 5G all over the world, so we will address both at the committee, but I believe our objective is not to favor one technology over another, but to figure out how we can get those critical services to many more Nigerians.”

While Nigerians are applauding the inauguration of the new committee, they are also expressing concern over the committee’s ability to get it right, considering what happened with the previous plan.

According to data from NCC, the previous plan ended with an abysmal result. The target was to achieve 80% penetration of 3G mobile wireless broadband by 2018 and the five-fold increase of broadband penetration, from the 2013 penetration of 6 to 30% by the end of 2018. While the 30% target was achieved, the five-fold increase was not. By prioritizing mobile wireless broadband, little was done about fixed broadband penetration which remains at 0.06 percent in 2019.

This is after billions of dollars have been invested by the government and stakeholders in the telecommunication industry. However, there is hope amidst fears that the committee, made up of mostly players in the telecommunication industry, will right the wrong this time.