The Senate Ad-hoc Committee looking into how the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari got and used the N30 trillion Ways and Means loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria claims to have discovered certain irregularities in the overdraft application procedure.
As a result, the committee announced that it had completed its arrangements to call Olayemi Cardoso, the current governor of the CBN, to clarify specific aspects of the violation.
This was brought to light on Tuesday at the National Assembly at a meeting between Senator Isah Jibrin (Kogi East) and other panel members and representatives from the CBN. Bala Bello, a deputy governor of the central bank, oversaw the group of CBN personnel.
The ad-hoc committee is probing the disbursement and usage of the N30tn Ways and Means loans obtained during the Buhari administration. Jibrin alleged that the immediate past former governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, unilaterally signed billions of naira in the approval of different tranches of the loans without following due process.
The Kogi lawmaker also accused Emefiele of illegally signing billions of naira in 13 documents. According to the committee chairman, Emefiele ought to have approved the loans in conjunction with the CBN Board of Directors, stressing that he unilaterally signed the loans contrary to the requirements of the CBN Act.
Jibrin said, “The committee of governors ought to be the signatories to the Ways and Means account but in the document we have here, the governor signed billions of naira in about 13 places.
“We want to know the total figure of the Ways and Means. We want to know the summation of the figure.”
The committee chairman further noted that documents available to him on the Anchors Borrowers Programme implemented by the Buhari’s administration indicated that about 70 per cent of the programme had been executed, leaving the remaining 30 per cent.
He said, “On the Anchor Borrowers Programme, you have done well. You did about 70 per cent but we must ensure the completion of the remaining 30 per cent.”
Jibrin, however, informed that the committee would summon the current CBN governor, Cardoso, to give a detailed account of what he knew about the Ways and Means facility.
The senator said, “Your governor who took over from Emefiele should be able to stand for Emefiele because he took over from him, including his assets. “Emefiele should provide an explanation to the existing governor. We will invite the governor and in case he does not have a response, he will contact Emefiele.”
