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, made the accusation 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.
DAILY POST 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 was 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 was 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, our intention was 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.”
Credit: dailypost.ng
