The Senate has passed a bill seeking to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act to increase its advances to the federal government from five per cent to a maximum of 15 per cent.
The bill’s passage followed its presentation and consideration at the plenary on Saturday.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Gobir Abdullahi (APC- Sokoto).
Section 38 of the CBN Act stated that “Notwithstanding the provisions of section 34(d) of the act, the bank may grant temporary advances to the federal government in respect of temporary deficiency of budget revenue at such rate as the bank may determine.”
It further stated that the total amount of such advances outstanding should not at any time exceed five per cent of the previous year’s actual federal government revenue.
The Senate also extended the implementation period for the N819 billion 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act from June 30 to December 31.
This followed the consideration and expeditious passage of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act (Amendment) Bill.
Senate Leader Ibrahim Gobir had earlier, during plenary, led the debate on the general principles of the bill.
Mr Gobir said the bill was read for the first time on May 24.
He said the bill sought to amend the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act to extend the implementation from June 30 to December 31.
Mr Gobir recalled that the National Assembly extended the implementation from December 31, 2022, to March 31, 2023.
“The extension had allowed MDAs to utilise a large proportion of funds released to them.
“However, a significant amount of funds remain with MDAs and will require a further extension to be fully expended.
“Given the critical importance of some key projects nearing completion, requesting a further extension of the expiration clause in the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill is expedient.
“This is to avoid compounding the problem of abandoned projects given that some of the projects were not provided for in the 2023 Budget.”
In his remarks, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said the supplementary budget approved for the executive by both chambers in December had not been implemented due to a lack of releases.
” The supplementary budget meant for fixing critical infrastructure destroyed by floods across the country last year has not been implemented due to non-releases of appropriated funds.
“As explained and requested by the executive, the duration of implementation will now be extended from June 30 earlier, to December 31, 2023.” NAN
