The Senate has approved the upward review of the Ways and Means loan accessible to the Federal Government from five to 15 percent.
According to the lawmakers, the very essence of the Bill was to enable the Federal Government to meet its immediate and future obligations in the approval of the ways and means by the National Assembly and advances to the Federal Government by the Central Bank of Nigeria”.
Ways and Means, by definition, are the revenues and methods of raising the revenues needed for the functioning of a state or other political unit. It is a way in which the Federal Government raises funds, by borrowing from the CBN. According to the CBN Act, the Ways and Means must not exceed five per cent of the previous year’s revenue.
The lead debate, sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Gobir, was tagged: the Central Bank of Nigeria Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 (SB. 1125).
His words: “Mr. President, my respected colleagues, permit me to lead the debate on this Bill which seeks to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act to increase the total CBN advances to the Federal Government from five per cent to a maximum of 15 per cent (15%). The Bill was read for the first time in this Chamber on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.
“This amendment is very consequential, and it needs the support of us all. This is to enable the Federal Government to embark on very important projects that will inflate and rejig the economy. “I, therefore, urge you all to support the passage of this Bill”.
Recall that the Senate recently approved the request of the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (Retd.), to restructure the N22.7 trillion loan from the CBN extended to the Federal Government under its Ways and Means provision.
