The House of Representatives, on Thursday, approved Ways and Means Advances obtained by the Federal Government from the Central Bank of Nigeria to the tune of N23, 719,703,774,306.90.
The House made a U-turn on the request made by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), since December 2022, for the National Assembly to approve the domestic borrowing from the CBN, which the lawmakers had abandoned in January 2023.
The approval by the House came about 24 hours after the Senate granted the presidential request, which generated outcry, especially from the private sector.
The approvals came are coming about three weeks to the end of the Buhari-led regime. On Thursday, the Joint House Committee on Finance; Banking and Currency; and Aids, Loans and Debt Management laid its report on the request, which the lawmakers considered as a Committee of Supply and approved in plenary.
The committee recommended that the House “approve the requested additional N1tn Ways and Means Advances for the implementation of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act as passed by the National Assembly” and “approve the securitisation of the total outstanding Ways and Means amount under the following terms: Amount 23,719,703,774,306.90; tenor, 40 years; moratorium on principal repayment, 3 years; pricing/interest rate, 9 per cent per annum.” – Source: Punch
