President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has explained that it is significant for the Federal Government to continue to borrow responsibly to fund critical projects in Nigeria because the country is poor.
Lawan disclosed this on Thursday while briefing State House correspondents following a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
The Senate President believes it is not reasonable for the Federal Government to tax the people more in the face of the present economic condition, adding that the country’s infrastructure must be developed.
He said, “You can’t, in my view and judgement, tax Nigerians further for you to raise the money for infrastructural development; other countries do that, but we’ve serious situation across the country.
“So, you can’t put taxes on the people. The only option left is for us to borrow responsibly, utilise prudently and economically, and ensure that the projects are self-sustaining; that they can pay back the loan.”
He added, “Our options are really very limited as a country. First, we don’t have the necessary revenue; Nigeria is poor, we shouldn’t deceive ourselves. Nigeria is not rich given the circumstances we live in, given the challenges we have.
“Our resources are so low, our revenues are so low; therefore, the option of not doing anything just to sit (because we’ve no money, we should not go for infrastructure development) is not an option worthy of consideration. You cannot keep the economy stagnant.”