Members of the joint National Assembly Committees on Finance, yesterday, faulted the decision by the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government to borrow foreign loans despite the fact that the various revenue generating agencies had surpassed their targets in the 2024 fiscal year.
Members of the Sani Musa and Abiodun Faleke-led joint committees expressed their disavowal while scrutinising the 2025-2027 Medium Term Expenditure and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF-FSP).
They wondered why the federal government should ask for a $2.2bn this year when it claimed that it had gained over $20bn as a result of the oil subsidy removal.
Adamu Aliero (PDP Kebbi Central), asked: “What is the federal government doing with excess revenues generated by the various agencies in view of its unending request for for foreign loan approval?”
But responding, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacchaeus Adedeji, said loans being requested for by the executive were already part of the 2024 budget.