THE Senate, on Tuesday, February 20, resolved to investigate the N27trillion Ways and Means approved by the 9th Senate for the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The decision was reached during deliberations on the report of the Joint Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions; Finance, National Planning; Agriculture and Appropriation on its interaction with the Federal Government economic management team regarding the state of the economy last week.
In the report read by Chairman of the Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions Committee, Adetokunbo Abiru, who also co-chaired the Committee, the lawmakers expressed displeasure with the Ways and Means policy, which they noted had a destabilising effect on monetary conditions.
Recall that in May last year, in the last days of its tenure, the 9th Senate approved Buhari’s request to restructure the N22.7trillion loans the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) extended to the Federal Government under its Ways and Means provision.
The Committee in its report, criticised the monetary policy, with Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, saying details of the expenditure was not presented to the then National Assembly, adding: “Mr. President, I was not part of the plenary that gave the nod for Ways and Means, but the detail of funds spent was not provided. This is illegal.”
Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, who was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, corroborated Ndume claim, noting: “It was approved for emergency, when they were brought, it was due to emergency. They told us because it was urgent. We said we were going to pass it, but they didn’t bring the details.”
Immediate past senate president, Ahmad Lawan, however, expressed strong reservations about the lawmakers’ resolve to investigate the Ways and Means, even though he admitted that the senate under his leadership approved N22trillion, not N30trillion.
He said the probe would not serve any useful purpose, insisting that what was paramount in the minds of Nigerians at the moment is how to put food on their table.
“There is nothing that National Assembly can’t review afresh. If sanctions are necessary, we can go ahead. What the 9th NASS approved was N22trillion, in terms of Ways and Means; it wasn’t N30trillion and N819bn for infrastructure.
“If we had a Ways and Means that was N30trillion, that means something happened. So, if the figure we have today is N30trillion, then we must investigate it.
“However, what Nigerians want today is food and security. So, let’s concentrate on what is urgent, which is the report of the joint committee on agriculture. In the immediate term, what bothers Nigerians is how to put food on their tables,” he stated.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, however, noted that the country was experiencing economic challenges because of illegal things done by the previous administration, saying: “We are where we are today as a result of illegal things and I think it is necessary that details of Ways and Means be provided.”
Apart from the Ways and Means advances, the senate also resolved to investigate other interventions, such as the N10trillion Anchors Borrowers Programme financed by the apex bank.
