Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Monday met with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed doors at the State House, Abuja.
No official statement was issued after the meeting that lasted several minutes in the President’s office. The Speaker also left the meeting without speaking to State House correspondents afterwards.
However, sources close to the parley disclosed that one of the issues on the agenda was the exclusion of the Southeast zone in the projects earmarked for the $22.7 billion foreign loan that the President is asking the lawmakers to approve.
Senators from the zone had vehemently kicked against the loan for the same reason, when it was passed in controversial circumstances by the upper legislative chamber last week.
The lower chamber is yet to debate or pass the loan request, but another of protestations is expected whenever the master comes.
This was why Speaker indefinitely suspended the consideration of the $22.79bn external loan last week.
The House had listed the report by its Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management on the 2016–2018 Federal Government External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan as the last item for consideration on the order paper for last Wednesday’s proceeding.
ExpressDay recalls that Gbajabiamila, however, asked that the consideration be stood down without giving a new date.
His decision to meet with President is therefore believed to seek possibilities of getting the Southeast a better deal and facilitate a smooth passage of the request in the House of Representatives.
Also discussed at the meeting was the crisis ravaging the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) following moves by some party stalwarts to remove the national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
The meeting preceded a scheduled parley between APC Governors and President Buhari, ahead of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party on Tuesday.
The NEC meeting may either save Oshiomhole or see his end to a tumultuous tenure as chairman of the APC.
It was also gathered the embattled Oshiomhole, visited the Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, earlier in the day while the President was at the Eagle Square, Abuja for an official engagement.
The party chairman’s visit to the Chief of Staff was not unconnected to the influential status of the latter to keep Oshiomhole in office.
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