The Senate has inaugurated an ad-hoc committee to probe the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari over the N30 trillion Ways and Means Advances from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Inaugurating the committee on Monday in Abuja, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, noted that unraveling the mystery behind the advances remains key in understanding the country’s present economic predicament.
Senator Akpabio said the success of the investigative panel hinges on collaboration, cooperation, and steadfast commitment to the benefit of Nigerians.
He charged the committee to leave no stone unturned in pursuit of the truth about the Ways and Means loans.
In his response, the chairman of the 17-member committee, Senator Isa Jubril assured the Senate that the probe would be carried out with precision to a logical conclusion.
The ad-hoc committee is also tasked with investigating the N10 trillion expended on the CBN’s Anchor Borrower Programme.
Buhari’s government took the N30 trillion Ways and Means advances from the CBN in contravention of the apex bank’s Act which limits the loans to 5 percent of the previous year’s government revenue.
The advances were more than what is allowed by law and given without the National Assembly’s approval.
The 9th National Assembly, however, granted an executive request to securitize the loans just before Buhari left office.
Analysts say this is one of the major reasons for Nigeria’s drowning economy.
The ‘Ways and Means’ is a government overdraft through which the Central Bank of Nigeria finances the shortfalls in the federal government budget.
