The Senate Ad hoc Committee investigating the N30 trillion Ways and Means facility granted to the federal government has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of frustrating its efforts to uncover how the loans were utilised.
The N30 trillion Ways and Means facility was allegedly granted to the federal government between 2015 and 2023.
The committee’s chairman, Isah Jibrin, made the allegation on Tuesday after receiving an interim report from its consultants.
Mr Jibrin, the senator for Kogi East, said the CBN refused to provide the necessary documents to facilitate the investigation, thereby delaying the completion of the assignment.
Although the representative of the CBN, Hamisu Abdullahi, tried to say that the apex bank had provided all the documents requested, the chairman said the facts were different.
“What you are telling us is not the truth. We have not received the documents. I don’t want to deceive the public here,” stated the committee chair.
Mr Jibrin insisted that “the least person that will attend the next meeting should be a deputy governor of CBN.”
He said the aim of the assignment, being entrusted to the committee by the Senate President so they could come up with a report within the shortest possible time, was being frustrated by CBN’s action.
The Ways and Means is a loan facility through which the CBN finances the federal government’s budget shortfalls.
This way of financing government deficits usually results in macroeconomic instability, leading to inflation and high exchange rates because of the excess liquidity injected into the economy.
The CBN law limits advances under ways and means to five per cent of the previous year’s revenue.
To remedy the situation, the CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, declared in February that the bank would no longer grant ways and means advances to the government “until all outstanding debts are refunded.”
(NAN)
