The Federal Government
has said that it was conducting an audit of the N22.7trillion Ways and Means
loans of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Federal Government
during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Finance Minister and Coordinating
Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the audit was necessary for the
President Bola Tinubu-led administration to determine whether it will repay it
or not.
Speaking at the Public Wealth Management Conference organised by
the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), Mr Edun said the central bank has
pointed out that the Ways and Means have to be eliminated, a position he said
the fiscal authorities strongly agreed with.
“What we are doing in that direction, there was an inherited
amount, N22.7 trillion, a backlog. We are auditing it. It’s like when I am
ready to pay a loan from bank, I audit the account. I ask for an audit before
finally agreeing to pay.
“But apart from that, how do you get your Ways and Means down?
You get your revenue up. You get your expenditure down as much as possible,”
the minister said.
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The conference was organised to draw
up strategies for effectively managing the nation’s assets and resources to
enhance the welfare of its citizens.
He told the gathering that the current administration inherited rising
prices of commodities in the country, but said the administration was committed
to breaking the inflation, saying: “We have to stem liquidity.”
He said the Federal Gsovernment has responded to the plight of citizens, including releasing
42 thousand metric tons of food grains. He said another 60 thousand tonnes
would soon be released to improve food supply to the market and put food on the
table of Nigerians.
Furthermore, the Tinubu administration, through the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is currently investigating the tenure of
former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, during which the Ways and Means loans
were approved.
In May 2023, the Senate approved the former President Buhari’s request
to restructure the N22.7 trillion loans extended to the Federal Government by
the CBN under the Ways and Means provision. This provision enables the
government to borrow from the CBN to address urgent financial needs arising
from delayed government receipts or fiscal deficits.
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