In a move that has been highly anticipated, the House of Representatives has granted approval for President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to borrow N22.7 trillion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through Ways and Means.
The Ways and Means provision will allow the federal government to borrow from the apex bank to meet financial emergencies.
The Senate had already given its approval to the request on Wednesday, and the House of Representatives followed suit on Thursday.
President Buhari had initially made the request via a letter to the two chambers of the national assembly in December 2022, but its consideration and approval were delayed due to the shutdown of both houses for the 2023 elections.
The Federal Government has stated that it will repay the loan, which as of December 2022, stood at N22.7 trillion, with securities such as treasury bills and bonds issuance.
The approval was granted after the report presented by three committees of finance, banking and currency, loans and aid management, which was laid in the name of the chairman of the committee on finance, Hon. James Falake at the Committee.
In a related development, the House adhoc committees in charge of investigating the volume of fuel consumed daily, and the state of refineries, have also laid their reports for consideration.
The reports were respectively chaired by Hon. Abdulkadir Abdullahi and Hon. Ganiyu Johnson. The Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase, who presided over the plenary session, directed the clerk to make copies of the reports available for consideration on Tuesday.
He emphasized that the findings and recommendations of the committees would be important for both the outgoing and incoming governments in making informed decisions.
