The federal government has said that it was conducting an audit of the N22.7trillion Ways and Means loans of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the federal government during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the audit was necessary for the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to determine whether it will repay it or not.
Speaking at the Public Wealth Management Conference organised by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), Mr Edun said the central bank has pointed out that the Ways and Means have to be eliminated, a position he said the fiscal authorities strongly agreed with.
“What we are doing in that direction, there was an inherited amount, N22.7 trillion, a backlog. We are auditing it. It’s like when I am ready to pay a loan from bank, I audit the account. I ask for an audit before finally agreeing to pay.
“But apart from that, how do you get your Ways and Means down? You get your revenue up. You get your expenditure down as much as possible,” the minister said.
The conference was organised to draw up strategies for effectively managing the nation’s assets and resources to enhance the welfare of its citizens.
He told the gathering that the current administration inherited rising prices of commodities in the country, but said the administration was committed to breaking the inflation, saying: “We have to stem liquidity.”
He said the federal government has responded to the plight of citizens, including releasing 42 thousand metric tons of food grains. He said another 60 thousand tonnes would soon be released to improve food supply to the market and put food on the table of Nigerians.
Furthermore, the Tinubu administration, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is currently investigating the tenure of former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, during which the Ways and Means loans were approved.
In May 2023, the Senate approved the former President Buhari’s request to restructure the N22.7 trillion loans extended to the Federal Government by the CBN under the Ways and Means provision. This provision enables the government to borrow from the CBN to address urgent financial needs arising from delayed government receipts or fiscal deficits.
