The Senate probe into the Buhari administration's ways and means advances is in limbo after new documents revealed the total was N7.5 trillion, not N30 trillion. This discrepancy has led to calls for a re-evaluation of the investigation’s direction.
In a surprising twist to the ongoing Senate probe, official documents reveal that ways and means advances by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration amounted to N7.5 trillion by December 2022. This figure starkly contrasts with the N30 trillion previously reported by a Senate joint committee, prompting a re-evaluation of the investigation led by Senator Isah Jibrin (Kogi East).
The "ways and means" facility is a loan mechanism through which the CBN covers the federal government's budget shortfalls. While the CBN Act limits these advances to 5% of the previous year's revenue, this regulation has often been ignored, leading to macroeconomic instability, inflation, and high exchange rates.
Detailed documents show that by December 19, 2022, the total overdraft to the federal government stood at N22.7 trillion. This included N7.5 trillion in ways and means N13.7 trillion in federal securities transactions and N4.6 trillion in interest charges. Notably, the loans were not listed as part of the federal debt stock until December 2022, when Buhari’s administration requested official recognition by the National Assembly.
The Buhari administration had only made three formal requests for ways and means, with the largest amount, nearly N2 trillion, disbursed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant funds were also allocated to the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) and two private power companies, Azura Power West Africa and Accugas Limited, under controversial payment agreements.
In February 2024, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso declared a halt to new ways and means advances until existing debts were repaid. This followed the Senate’s approval to securitize an outstanding balance of N7.3 trillion within President Bola Tinubu's first six months in office.
On March 11, 2024, Senate President Godswill Akpabio inaugurated a 17-member ad hoc committee to probe the reported N30 trillion ways and means advances. Despite a six-week deadline, the committee has not yet submitted its report, nine weeks past the due date. The panel has requested detailed breakdowns and proofs of disbursement from the CBN, but Chairman Jibrin has yet to provide an update.
Source: The Cable
