FG to Audit CBN N22.7bn Ways and Means Under Buhari

By Adedapo Adesanya

The President Bola Tinubu administration is auditing the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means loans approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the immediate past government of Mr Muhammadu Buhari.

Ways and Means are advances that the federal government obtains from the central bank through loans to meet short-term needs or emergencies.

During his administration, President Buhari received about N22.7 trillion (now N23.8 trillion) from the apex bank under the former governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, against what is stipulated by Section 38 (2) of the CBN Act.

The part of the law makes it clear that “the total amount of such advances outstanding shall not at any time exceed five per cent of the previous year’s actual revenue of the federal government.”

However, the Buhari administration overshot the five per cent ceiling and grew ways and means from N856 billion to N23.8 trillion, representing 2,635 per cent in seven years.

Now, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, said that an audit was ongoing and details would be released soon.

The Finance Minister stated this on Tuesday at the Public Wealth Management Conference in Abuja.

He said the current administration inherited the rising prices of food and general commodities from the previous administration but is doing what it can to bring down the prices of food as well as the soaring inflation rate in the country.

Mr Edun stated that the federal government was not unaware of the sufferings of Nigerians as measures have been put in place to alleviate their sufferings.

The interventions, according to him, include the release of 42,000 metric tons of grains and another 60,000 metric tons expected to be released soon.

In May 2023, shortly before the end of the Buhari government, the Senate approved the request of the then President to restructure the N22.7 trillion loans the CBN extended to the federal government under its Ways and Means provision.

Earlier this month, the current governor of the CBN, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, said that the apex bank would no longer give the Ways and Means to the FG until the previous loans were repaid.

He noted that it was one of the measures taken by the apex bank to curtail the economic downturn currently plaguing the country.