Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger has sought the approval of the state Assembly to borrow N280.5 million loan from First Bank Plc to boost the operation of the State Transport Authority.

The Speaker, Ahmed Marafa, who presided over Thursday’s plenary, read the governor’s letter on the floor of the Assembly.

Part of the letter read: “I write to intimate you of ongoing negotiations by Niger State Transport Authority (NSTA) for a loan of N280.5 million to be utilised for procurement of 30 Toyota Hiace buses for its operations.’’

The governor said that part of the money would be utilised to insure and register the buses.

Gov. Abubakar Bello

He said that the bank offered the loan at 18 per cent interest rate per annum at 36 months repayment period.

Contributing to the debate, Shuaibu Iya (PDP- Suleja) urged the House to give the request accelerated consideration, saying the facility was critical to boost revenue of the state transport authority.

He added that improved services by NSTA would enable the people of the state enjoy the dividends of democracy.

After exhaustive deliberation, the House referred the matter to its committees on Transport and Finance for consideration.

In a related development, the House had granted the governor’s request to restructure the terms of N10.4 billion bond by extending the maturity period by 3 years to 2021.

A private member bill for a law to amend the provisions of rent control and recovery of residential premises law 1977 was read for the second time.

The bill was referred to the Committees on Judiciary, Lands and Housing for consideration.