Senate in rowdy session, vows to probe Buhari , others over N30trn Ways and Means debt

 

 

Ignatius Okorocha,Abuja

 

The Senate Tuesday was thrown into a rowdy session and vowed  to probe the  totality of N30trillion Ways and Means spent by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s led federal government which  according to it , was recklessly spent .

 

 

The Red chamber specifically alleged that reckless spending of the overdraft collected from the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) , under Godwin Emefiele, largely accounted for food and security crises , bedeviling the Nation now .

 

It consequently resolved to set up an Ad – hoc committee , to carry out investigation on what and what the N30trillion Ways and Means were spent on by the immediate past government since details of such spendings , were deliberately not made available to the National Assembly .

 

The Ad- hoc committee which will be constituted on Wednesday this week, will also probe the N10trillion expended on Anchor Borrowers Scheme , the $2.4billion forex transaction out of $7billion obligation made for that purpose as well as other intervention programmes.

 

Senate’s resolutions on planned investigations , followed consideration of report of its joint committee  on Banking , Insurance and other Financial Institutions , Finance , National Planning, Agriculture and Appropriation on State of the Economy after interactive sessions with Federal  Government Economic management team .

 

The report consideration in plenary Tuesday, was very stormy with accusations and counter accusations by Senators largely from the 9th Senate on why and how the N22 .7trillion ways and means was passed by the the previous Senate in May 2023 and additional N7.2trillion passed on 30th December , 2023 by the 10th Senate.

 

Specifically , the Whip of the Senate , Senator Ali Ndume ( APC Borno South), in his contribution , blamed the Senate for approving the request without details from the then President  ( Muhammadu Buhari) .

 

” When the N22.7trillion Ways and Means approval request was brought before the 9th Senate , I insisted that details of spendings made with it , should be provided before approval but the Senate then , went ahead and approve it ” , he said .

 

 

He was however countered by the Deputy President of the Senate , Senator Jibrin Barau , who said the decision taken then , was a collective one with caveat that the executive should provide details later , which was however not provided .

 

 

The President of the Senate , Senator Godswill Akpabio in his remarks said , as recommended by the committee , and supported by most of the Senators ,  thorough probe must be carried out on the N22.7trillion Ways and Means approved in May 2023 by the 9th Senate which later increased to N30trillion , with passage of the N7.2trillion accrued interest forwarded to us for passage in the December last year .

 

” The Food and Security crises confronting the Nation now , are traceable to the way and manner the said Ways and Means , were given , collected and spent .

 

” Details of such spendings must be submitted for required scrutiny and possible remedies , because what Nigerians want now , is food on their table , which must be given .

 

” Other recommendations made by the committee on the need for thorough investigation of the N10trillion Anchor borrowers programme ,   and other intervention programmes ,running into billions of dollars must be investigated .

 

 

” But as rightly recommended by the joint committee, security agencies should as a matter of national urgency combat all forms of insecurity across the country for farmers to access their farms for required food production , highly needed in the country now. “, he said.

According to Akpabio, the present 10th Senate is not a rubber- stamp Senate and as such, can never allow Nigerians to suffer for the wrong decision of the former administration.

 

Efforts by the immediate past President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan to justify the decision of the last administration failed to stop the lawmakers from voicing their anger on the  action the previous Executive arm and the 9th National Assembly, noting that the approval of such unaccounted huge amount should not have been authorized by the Parliament.

 

Meanwhile, The Senate on Tuesday at plenary resolved to tackle the current economic recession by creating favorable environment for the promotion of  Agriculture and Food security.

 

Deliberating on the report of a joint committee on Finance, Banking and Financial Institutions and National Planning, the Red chamber maintained that for the worsening nation’s economy to be tackled,the following steps must be strictly adhered to:

 

“Encourage local industries by identifying strategic commodities to be based on regional/state comparative advantage

 

“Address issues of land tenure systems in Nigeria by encouraging state governments create lands hanks for agricultural investment

 

“Give incentives to manufacturers of farming equipment to manufacture or assemble them locally.

 

“Promote commodities exchanges by making available to them on hire/lease or sale through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, idle government warehouses and facilities scattered all over the country

 

“Deploy PPP to invest in cold rooms to reduce post-harvest losses

 

 

Continuing the upper chamber further added:

 

“Increase significantly the total arable land under cultivation from current 34 million hectares in partnership with state governments.

 

“Recapitalise and restructure the Bank of Agriculture with a view to bringing in private sector players.

 

“Prioritise development of critical rural infrastructure such as roads using Sukuk bonds, reactivation centres and off-grid energy solutions via green bonds as part of measures to reduce post-harvest losses

 

“Strengthen Agriculture research Institutions and Universities with appropriate frameworks developed for the commercialisation of their research findings and produce.

 

” Improve security across Nigeria’s agricultural investments through a national legislation for community policing and security that empowers farming clusters and associations to ensure security in their communities.

 

“Provide small holder farmers with access to credit, inputs, modem farming techniques, and extension services to increase their productivity and yields.

 

“Encourage the adoption of mechanized farming techniques and technologies to improve efficiency and productivity in agriculture.

 

“Strengthen extension services to provide farmers with training. information, and technical support on modern farming practices, pest management, soil conservation, and crop diversification.

 

” improve market access for farmers by developing transportation networks, establishing market infrastructure, and facilitating linkages between farmers and markets

 

” Engaging with security agencies to combat insecurity and secure food.”

 

Senate also noted that  the persistent inflationary trend and the fall of the naira underscore the urgency for proactive measures.

 

According to the committee report,”The findings from the session illuminate the multifaceted factors contributing to these challenges.

 

Adding,”As this report indicates, a collaborative effort between the Executive and the legislature, and between the fiscal and monetary authorities is imperative to mitigate the risks associated with a potential hyperinflation and the crash of the naira

supply.”

.Urges MDCN to allow Nigerian medical graduands from Ukraine,Sudan to sit for examination

Senate at plenary on Tuesday urged the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to allow Nigerian medical graduands from Ukraine and Sudan, where war did not affect their academic activities to sit for MDCN exams in July and Nov without any discrimination.

 

It also urged MDCN to in no distant time, work toward the conduct of the MDCN exams in each geo-political zones of the country like the Law Schools, to reduce the cost on the students and their parents.

 

The upper chamber’s  resolutions followed adoption of a motion at plenary on Tuesday.

 

The motion titled “Discrimination Against Medical Graduands from Ukraine by Nigerian Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria was sponsored by Sen. Oyewumi, Olalere (PDP- Osun )

 

Olalere in his lead debate said the issue of medical graduates from Ukraine universities has drawn attention of National Assembly since 2022.

 

He said in 2023, the House of Representatives and the Ministry of Health concluded with the Medical and Dental Council to allow the students that graduated from medical schools in Ukraine to participate in qualifying exam like other students, or at best, organise a makeup programme for them before the exam.

 

He said MDCN has slated a referral programme for the 2022 graduates alone at Federal Medical Centre Gwagwalada at the cost of N1.5 million per student to be paid in one and half weeks.

 

He said the concerned parents of the affected students had visited the National Assembly complex to lodge their complain during the vacation of the Senate for extension of the deadline for payment to one month from one and half week.

 

Olalere, who is Senate Deputy Minority leader said the war in Ukraine affected the eastern part of Ukraine and KIV, the capital, adding that western Ukraine were not affected.

 

According to him, the students were in campus doing their programme unhindered as confirmed by the Ukrainian Ambassador to Nigeria.

 

He said since the war in Ukraine did not affect all the universities, especially, students in Western parts of Ukraine, students who graduated from those universities in 2023 should be allowed to sit for MDCN exams henceforth without any hindrance.

 

Other senators, who supported the motion includes Senators Adamu Alero,(PDP- Kebbi )Abdul Ningi (PDP-Bauchi)among others.

 

Senate also urged the Committee of Nigerian Vice Chancellors to allow Nigerian students arriving from war turn countries to be admitted into Nigerian universities to complete their studies.

 

President of Senate Godswill Akpiabio in his remarks, thanked the sponsor of the motion, saying that it was a popular motion and elicited comments from the lawmakers.

 

He expressed believe that the resolutions of Senate would be adhered to by MDCN and the Vice Chancellors to ameliorate sufferings of concerned Nigerian medical graduates from the war affected nations.

.We’re probing Buhari’s N23trn Ways and Means debt– Edun

The Federal Government will audit  the N23 trillion Ways and Means debt incurred by immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, announced this at the ongoing Public Wealth Management Conference organised by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated on Tuesday in Abuja.

Edun also stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited has been asked to improve oil production to boost revenue.

He added that a bill will soon be presented to the National Assembly that will authorise the removal of all taxes and levies that constitute nuisance from the country’s tax system as a measure to wean itself from future Ways and Means indebtedness.

The government, Edun added, will pursue policies that will allow it to harvest revenue in real-time from government-owned enterprises and Corporate entities.

Edun said, “We have to stem liquidity. The Central Bank has led the way in pointing out that the Ways and Means have to be tailed down and eliminated and that is what we agree with.

 

“We are doing in that direction, there was an inherited amount of N22.7trn in backlogs. We are auditing it and it is like when I am ready to pay a loan from a bank and I ask for an audit before finding the agreed sum to pay.

“But apart from that, how do you get your ways and means down? We have to get revenues up and expenditure reduced as much as possible.”

Ways and Means is the money that the Central Bank of Nigeria lends to the Federal Government in the meantime to augment spending based on the time the revenue is generated.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has said that the apex bank will no longer give Ways and Means to the President until the previous loans are repaid.

 

Olayemi noted that it was one of the measures taken by the apex bank to curtail the economic downturn currently plaguing the country.