Hon. Sada Soli Kicks Against Increase Of FG Borrowing

The Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources, Hon Sada Soli on Sunday kicked against the House of Representatives’ upward review of the Ways and Means loan accessible to the Federal Government at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 5% to 15%.

With the passage by both chambers of the National Assembly, the amendment is likely to be sent to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent before the end of his tenure tomorrow.

Under the CBN Act, the Ways and Means provision allows the government to borrow from the apex bank if it needs short-term or emergency finance to fund delayed government expected cash receipt of fiscal deficit

The CBN Act Section 38(2) & (3) states, “that Ways and Means shall not exceed 5% of the previous year’s revenue of the Federal Government.”

During the consideration of the report on the CBN Act, 2007 amendment bill, standing in the name of the Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, Victor Nwokolo, Soli raised an objection to it via a point of order.

He said, “Mr Chairman does it mean with this amendment that the CBN somehow advances to Government at 10 per cent or is it a wake-up call at the twilight of this government we are changing this from five per cent to 15 per cent?

“Can the Chairman, Banking and Currency kindly explain this not only to the National Assembly but to Nigerians? Does it mean the CBN granted this advance at 15 per cent or what is going on? This is what we don’t know Chairman.

“I’m a member of the Committee on Banking and Currency. I didn’t know when this discussion took place. I can stand on privilege Order 6 to call for an explanation as a member of this Committee, how we reached this amendment, please?”

But responding to the lawmaker, the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase who presided over the Committee of the Whole said the right thing was to pass the bill.

Wase said: “Hon. Sada the only explanation I may attempt to give if I listened to you very carefully is this, the Chair has the right to commit after second reading any bill to the Committee of the Whole.

“It is there contained in our Standing Order. It depends on the importance and the exigency of the moment. And in light of this, I want to beg our colleagues to please consider this amendment and we pass it so that we have the right thing done,” Wase said.