The Senate’s investigation into the N30 trillion Ways and Means facilities granted to the federal government by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 2014 to 2023 has entered its crucial phase. The report is set to be released in September this year.
Last week, the Senate extended the assignment of the ad-hoc committee responsible for the probe, granting it an additional two months to complete its work.
Senator Isah Jibrin, the committee chairman appointed in March this year, explained the need for more time, citing vital information from relevant agencies which utilised the monetary facilities.
In a telephone conversation with journalists in Abuja, Senator Jibrin, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Customs and Excise Duties, expressed the committee’s commitment to conducting a thorough investigation without rushing to conclusions.
The committee has already contacted most of the relevant agencies and is meticulously scrutinising their documents regarding the disbursement of the ways and means funds.
Pressure will be exerted on the few agencies that have not adequately responded to information requests, and their heads may be summoned if necessary.
With the new timeframe provided by the Senate, the committee aims to produce a comprehensive report in September this year detailing how the N30 trillion in Ways and Means was disbursed, for what purposes, and how it was expended.
Ways and Means is a loan facility provided by the CBN to finance the federal government’s budget shortfalls. However, this method of financing deficits has led to macroeconomic instability, including inflation and high exchange rates due to the excess liquidity injected into the economy.
The CBN law stipulates that advances under ways and means should not exceed five percent of the previous year’s revenue, but this limit has been frequently breached over the years.
To address this issue, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso, announced in February this year that the bank would no longer grant ways and means advances to the government until all outstanding debts were refunded.
