Senate approves Tinubu’s request for $21.5bn loan, N757bn pension bond arrears

The Senate on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, approved the 2025-2026 external borrowing plan of $21.5 billion presented by President Bola Tinubu for consideration.

The Senate’s approval, followed presentation of the report of Committee on Local and Foreign Debts at plenary by the chairman of the committee, Aliyu Wamakko (APC-Sokoto).

The loan request, according to Tinubu, is aimed at funding various critical national development projects across key sectors of the economy.

Also approved by the Senate was a loan request of 15 billion Japanese Yen and 65 million Euros grant.

The Senate also approved the issuance of federal government bond of N757 billion for payment of accrued rights pension arrears as at December 2023 for the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

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The lawmakers equally approved Tinubu’s request of capital raising of up to $2 billion through a foreign currency-denominated instrument in the domestic market.

Wamakko, in his report, said the loan requests were part of the already approved Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) for the 2025 budget.

He stated that MTEF and FSP contained most of the items in the borrowing plans.

The senator added that based on the findings, the committee recommended that the Senate should approve the president’s request.

The Star