Senate Inaugurates Committee To Probe CBN’s Anchor Borrowers, Ways And Means

An Ad-Hoc Committee has been established by the Senate to investigate the Ways and Means, including the Anchor Borrowers Programme by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Naija News reports that the decision was made on Monday by the Red Chamber led by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and accompanied by other lawmakers.

This decision was made following a resolution by the Red Chamber to scrutinize the details of various programs that have contributed to the country’s current debt profile.

These programs include funds allocated to state governments, manufacturers, aviation, banks, and excess funding in the power sector.

The Senate arrived at this resolution after a thorough debate on the report of the National Assembly Joint Committees on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions (BIOFI), Finance, National Planning, Agriculture, and Appropriation, which focused on the state of the economy.

During a thorough discussion in early February, Senator Adamu Aliero argued that certain state governors, as well as some retired senators, have received N18 billion as shock absorbers through the Ways and Means since 2015.

This discussion prompted some legislators to propose the establishment of a special committee to examine the N30trn intervention disbursements (including grants) and devise strategies to recover them.

The inauguration was graced by the presence of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Wale Edun, the CBN Governor; Olayemi Cardoso, Accountant General of the Federation; Oluwatoyin Madein, Auditor-General of the Federation; Shaakaa Chira, Director General, Debt Management Office; Patience Oniha, as well as beneficiary Ministries Departments and Agencies, Institutions, States, Local Governments, and other stakeholders, Naija News understands.