The Senate on Tuesday appointed Senator Jibrin Isah, who represents Kogi East Senatorial District, as Chairman of Senate Adhoc Committee to probe the N30 trillion ‘Ways and Means’ which the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, released as loan to the Federal Government during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The constitution of the committee was a follow-up to the adoption of a motion on the matter during plenary last week.
The ‘Ways and Means’ is an overdraft taken directly from the CBN to solve contingency needs of the nation following approval and directive of the executive arm of government, which would have to be ratified by the Parliament.
However, last week’s debate on ‘Ways and Means’ snowballed into confusion when the motion was raised without details of how the fund was spent, a development that infuriated Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, who insisted that details of ‘Ways and Means’ must be provided according to parliamentary rules.
In his remark before announcing membership of the Committee, the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, who presided over the plenary in absence of Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, lamented that reckless spending had caused inflation in the country.
He said the ‘Ways and Means’ would continue to be recorded in the balance sheet of the CBN until it is completely liquidated, while he tasked the committee to do a thorough job with a view to recover the fund.
He added, “According to statistics, broad money supply, which is a key parameter for key inflationary trends, increased from N78.3 to 78.4 trillion in 2023, the highest ever recorded in Nigeria.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Ways and Means which provides direct lending to the Federal Government of Nigeria causes unprecedented liquidity in the economy and the current inflationary pressure that we are experiencing.
“The financial obligation to the CBN now stands at N30 trillion. The inability to repay this temporary accommodation by the Federal Government of Nigeria led to the regularization of a 40 year loan at 9 percent interest per annum.
“By implication, this debt will appear in the balance sheet of CBN for the next 40 years until liquidated. It is therefore imperative to interrogate the loans of the N30 trillion Ways and Means with a possibility of recovering whatever possible.”
Other Senators who were announced as members of the Adhoc Committee are Senator Ekpeyong Asuquo
Mohammed Tahir Monguno, Victor Umeh
Olamilekan Adeola, Sani Mohammed Musa, Aliyu Wadada, Abdul Ningi and Ipalibo Banigo Harry.
They were given four weeks to turn in their report for legislative debate.
