Jonathan Seeks $1bn Loan To Fight Boko Haram

President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the House of Representatives to grant approval to his government to borrow an external loan of $1bn(about N165bn).

The President’s letter, seeking the lawmakers’ approval to borrow the money, was read during the House’s plenary in Abuja on Wednesday.

Jonathan said the money would be used to upgrade the equipment of the Armed Forces.

The letter read in part: “You are no doubt cognizant of the ongoing serious security challenges, which the nation is facing as typified by the Boko Haram terrorists threat. This is an issue that we have discussed at various times.

“I would like to bring to your attention the urgent need to upgrade the equipment, training and logistics of our Armed Forces and security services to enable them be more forceful to confront this serious threat.

“For this reason, I seek the concurrence of the National Assembly for external borrowing of not more than $1 billion, including government to government arrangements for this upgrade.”

It will be recalled that Defence got the lion share of N968.127 billion of the N4.964 trillion 2014 budget.