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President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve $20.52bn and €1.05bn in external borrowing under the Federal Government’s 2026–2027 supplementary borrowing plan.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio read the president’s request in a letter during plenary on Tuesday.
In the letter, Tinubu said the proposed borrowing was intended to address Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit and bridge funding gaps across critical sectors of the economy, including power, transportation, healthcare, education, agriculture, water supply and security.
The funds are also expected to support job creation and financial management reforms.
“I submit 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 wrote.
Tinubu said the projects selected for funding had undergone technical and economic evaluations to ensure they would contribute to poverty reduction, skills acquisition, entrepreneurship and food security.
He argued that the scale of Nigeria’s infrastructure needs required additional external financing to close existing funding gaps.
“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.
Following the presentation of the letter, Akpabio referred the request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, chaired by Senator Haruna Manu, for legislative scrutiny.
The committees on Appropriations and Finance are also expected to collaborate in examining the proposal.
Akpabio said aspects of the borrowing plan had featured in previous government borrowing proposals and budgets, including an external borrowing plan covering the 2025–2027 period.
“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,” he said.
He added that the committee would examine the latest request to clarify its scope before the Senate takes further action.
“However, this request will be looked at by the Committee on Local and Foreign Debts… to clarify the scope before further action,” Akpabio said.
The committee’s review is expected to establish how the supplementary borrowing proposal relates to existing approvals and Nigeria’s debt management framework.
The Senate is yet to approve the request, which remains subject to legislative consideration.
