The Senate has authorized the restructuring of a controversial N22.719 trillion naira ways and means advances to prevent the government from shutting down.
The upper chamber approved the request during a plenary session on Wednesday after reviewing a report from an ad hoc committee. The report noted that the federal government had repeatedly borrowed from the central bank of Nigeria, exceeding the five per cent threshold of the previous year’s revenue as stipulated by the CBN Act.
Meanwhile, Buhari had requested that the National Assembly restructure the sum, but some senators opposed the overdraft as it contravened the constitution and the CBN Act.
However, the Senate Leader, Ibrahim Gobir, explained that part of the money had been given as loans to states. The Special Committee was established by the Red Chamber to scrutinize the fiscal document, and after critical analysis and review of submissions made by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning and the CBN, it put together the report.
