Despite public rage at Wednesday’s Senate approval of President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to restructure the N23.7 trillion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) extended to the Federal Government under its Ways and Means (W&M) provision, the House of Representatives, yesterday, assented to the president’s controversial CBN overdrafts.
The W&M provision allows the government to borrow from the apex bank if it needs short-term or emergency finance to fund delayed government expected cash receipts of fiscal deficits.
Politics Nigeria recalls that the Federal Government had said it would repay the loan, which as at December 2022 stood at N23.7 trillion with securities such as treasury bills and bonds issuance.
Buhari, had in December 2022, asked both chambers of the National Assembly to approve his proposal, but the lawmakers who had promised to consider the request before proceeding for the election break failed to list it for consideration during plenary in January.
However, presenting the report at the Committee of the Whole yesterday, the House passed a resolution to approve same:
“Approve the securitisation of the total outstanding W&M amount under the following terms: amount N23,719,703,774,306.90; Tenor 40 years; Moratorium on Principal Repayment three years; Pricing/Interest Rate nine per cent per annum.”
The report presented by three committees of finance, banking and currency, loans and aid management stood in the name of the chairman, committee on finance, James Faleke.
Similarly, at plenary, the ad-hoc committees in charge of investigating the volume of fuel consumed daily, and state of refineries, laid its findings and recommendations for consideration.
