President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Senate to approve the issuance of N10.069 billion promissory note to Kogi State government for projects done on behalf of the Federal Government.

His request was conveyed in a letter to Senate President, Mr Ahmad Lawan, which was read during plenary on Tuesday.

The request is premised on the promissory note programme and bond issuance to certain inherited local debts and contractual obligations of the Federal Government.

A promissory note is a debt instrument which one party promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other, either at a fixed or determinable future time, under specific terms.

Reading out the letter, Lawan said the 8th National Assembly passed the resolutions approving the issuance of promissory notes to 24 out of 25 state governments.

In the letter, Mr Buhari noted that the claims of all the 25 state governments for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government were verified by Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and Bureau of Public Procurement. he said the Federal Executive Council approved the claims after which they were forwarded for the approval of the National Assembly.

“Accordingly, the Senate is hereby requested to kindly approve the issuance of promissory note to the sum of N10,069,692,410.15 as refund to Kogi State government as payments for projects executed on behalf of the federal government while looking forward to the timely issuance of the resolutions of the National Assembly for the refund to Kogi State government,” part of the letter read.

Senate President, thereafter, mandated the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts to work on the president’s request and report back to the Senate in two weeks.

Kogi state will hold its governorship election in November 16, four weeks away. The state is currently governed by All Progressives Congress, the party of Buhari.

PT