Olusegun Ariyo
The Senate Ad-hoc Committee Investigating Ways and Means has slammed the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for frustrating its investigation into the N30 trillion facility provided to the last administration from 2015 to 2023.
The chairman of the ad-hoc committee,
Senator Jibrin Isah Echoch, accused after receiving an interim report from consultants commissioned to investigate the matter.
He said the committee was mandated to investigate how the Ways and Means facility was utilized by the past administration, particularly as it affects the government’s cover for budget deficits.
Urban Express News Online News recalled that on 20th February, 2024, the Nigerian Senate passed a resolution to investigate the use of the facility by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Senator Isah attributed the food scarcity and security challenges bedeviling the country to unnecessary overdraft from the nation’s coffers by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.
He said the committee’s mandate was to unravel the utilization of funds, highlighting that “the details of the spending were deliberately shielded away from the National Assembly”.
The lawmaker lamented the uncooperative stance of the Central Bank of Nigeria in providing the necessary documents for the consultants to carry out their job.
Jibrin said, “None of the documents were submitted to us. We will not allow you to attend the next meeting because you have been coming here for the same reason.
“The least likely person that will attend the next meeting should be a deputy governor of CBN. What you are telling us is not the truth. We have not received the documents. I don’t want to deceive the public here.”
Jibrin further stated that the goal of his committee was to produce a report as quickly as possible, but expressed frustration that their efforts were being hindered by the actions of the CBN.
He said, “The information we have here is not different from what we have had all along.
“What we did was to hand over the documents to the consultants, and when the consultants made available to us this interim report, we intended to hold onto the interim report on the final report.
“We have now been compelled to make available this interim report to the general public so that we let them know where the problem is.
“The problem is that the Central Bank of Nigeria has consistently denied us the documents that we need to complete this assignment. That is the truth. I was at the CBN, sometimes, I met Bala the deputy governor, and they promised, but nothing came out of it.
“The clerk has been there several times. Nothing has come out of it.
“The consultants themselves even took it upon themselves to go with CBN directly, because we introduced them to CBN and nothing has come out of it.
“So let the Nigerian public know that this assignment has been hindered by the Central Bank of Nigeria. They will deny those documents. After this, you must avail us, or avail the consultants, all the documents that they require to complete this assignment.
“The reason for this meeting is to let everybody know why we have not been able to finish this assignment and it looks as if we have compromised. The answer is that we have not.”
He clarified that despite the challenges, the committee is committed to uncovering how the money was spent.
Reacting, the Director of Banking Services, Hamisu Abdullahi, who represented the Governor of the Central Bank, Olayemi Cardoso, said the apex bank did provide all necessary documents to the consultants.
The chairman of the committee insisted that preliminary reports show that there are major infractions, especially on the part of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
