The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has approved the request by President Muhammadu Buhari, (GCFR) to restructure the N22.7trn loan under the Ways and Means policy.
This was after the Senate Special Committee of Ways and Means Chaired by Senator Ibrahim Gobir (Senate Leader) laid its report.
The approval of the report on Ways and Means was seconded by Senate Minority Leader Senator Phillip Aduda.
Senate Leader Ibrahim Gobir said part of the advances were given as loans to states. He added that the Special Committee set up by the Red Chamber to scrutinise the fiscal document, put up the report after “critical analysis and review of submissions made by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning; and the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
Senator Gobir, said the Senate Special Committee after exhaustive deliberations, recommended among others, the restructuring of N22.719trn for Ways and Means Advances be approved because the advances were made to ensure that the government does not shutdown.
According to him, the panel further sought the approval of the Senate for the sum of N180.463bn being the balance of the supplementary budget and the interest accrued on the Ways and Means Advances.
Other recommendations of the Ways and Means Committee of the Senate were, “That if there is a need to exceed the five per cent threshold of the prior year’s revenue, recourse must be made to the National Assembly for approval.”
“That the federal government through the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning should expedite action on the repayment of the loans through treasury bills and bond issuances.”
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, noted that the Ways and Means advances was a global practice. He faulted the process adopted by the executive arm of government which failed to carry the National Assembly along while accumulating the huge amount of loans.
The Ways and Means will be securitized as bonds and treasury bills at 9% for a 40-year period.
This means Nigeria’s total debt figure is now N66.95trn approximately N70trn.
