The N22.7 trillion Ways and Means Restructuring request made to President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2022 received no attention from the Senate on Wednesday.
Ways and Means Advances is a loan facility used by the Central Bank to finance the government in periods of temporary budget shortfalls, subject to limits imposed by law.
The request was not included in the Senate’s order paper for the Wednesday plenary session, nor was it mentioned by the Senate leader, who also serves as the head of the special committee formed for that reason.
Meanwhile, the executive branch of government did not give the information that was expected regarding how the N22.7 trillion was spent over the course of ten years.
Recall that last week on Tuesday, the Senate’s president, Ahmad Lawan, stated that the Senate was prepared to support the proposal as long as the Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, and Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, supplied the necessary information regarding the spending.
He said that the Senate and, consequently, the House of Representatives would have adjourned session on Thursday of last week till after the Presidential and National Assembly elections if it weren’t for the restructuring of the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means request.
”We must have the necessary information for passage of the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means Restructuring request as time is not on our side in the Senate now given the coming general elections.
” If there is a need for the Senate to sit up until Friday (last week) for thorough consideration and passage of the request, it will be done, but the affected officials from the executive must also expedite action on the provision of the required information as regards documents authorizing approval and disbursement of the monies totaling N22.7 trillion,” he had said.
Recall that the Debt Management Office (DMO) explained in a statement, this afternoon, that the debt stock did not represent borrowings under the current administration but had built up from past administrations.
It explained further that the public debt stock was the total sum of debts owed by the federal and state governments, as well as, the Federal Capital Territory.
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