By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The Senate Ad-hoc Committee probing the N30 trillion Ways and Means loans advances to the Federal Government and the Anchor Borrowers program had insisted that the loans have asked the Central Bank of Nigeria to produce details of the transactions.
The committee’s chairman, Senator Isah Jibrin (Kogi East), stated this after a meeting on Tuesday at the National Assembly complex with officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN team, led by Bala Bello Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, made their presentations on Ways and Means and Anchor Borrowers.
Jibrin told journalists that the committee could extract useful information from them, guiding their next level of discussion.
He said the committee had issues with approvals in areas where it was discovered that the CBN governor “unilaterally gave approvals,” which is abnormal for the committee.
The committee could not obtain an immediate explanation for that and, therefore, gave the CBN 24 hours to provide the necessary explanation.
He said, “We believe that every approval must be given by the Committee of Governors (COG), the governor, and his deputies. That is the standard rule.
“Where the governor alone unilaterally gives approval that calls for questioning, they will likely provide answers very soon.
“However, the Anchor Borrowers amounting to N1.1trn has an impressive repayment rate of up to 70 percent performance, and the remaining 30 percent of N358bn are loans given to low-income farmers with very high risk.
Jibrin said the risk there was that those low-income farmers don’t have what it takes to perform to expectation in terms of “equipment and technical know-how to manage those farms effectively.
He said, “That is where we are going to have possible problems with loan defaults of about N358 billion.”
The committee has advised that, to the extent that the loans were processed through the commercial banks, the credit risks lie with the commercial banks.
He added that the commercial banks should go after those borrowers to recover their money.
Jibrin said, “We have advised them to try to have a roundtable discussion with the commercial banks that purportedly guaranteed those loans.
“To the extent that those loans have been guaranteed and those commercial banks are still in existence, the credit risks lie with the commercial banks, and they know what to do.”
*Confirms Alade as MD of AMCON
The Senate also confirmed Gbenga Alade’s nomination as the Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
The Senate also confirmed the nomination of Adeshola Lamidi, Lucky Adaghe, and Dr. Aminu Murktar Dan’amu for appointment as executive directors in AMCON.
The Red Chamber’s resolution followed the adoption of the recommendations of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions, which screened the nominees.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, presented the report.
President Bola Tinubu had earlier forwarded the nominees to the Senate and urged them to consider and confirm them for appointment.
*Passes N1.282trn FCT 2024 Budget
The Senate also yesterday passed the sum of N1.282trn FCT 2024 budget
The budget’s passage followed the adoption and approval of the recommendations in the harmonized report of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on FCT on the 2024 FCT statutory Appropriation Bill at plenary.
Senator Ibrahim Bomoi, the chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, presented the report.
Of the amount, N140,915,003,856.00 is for personnel costs, while N373,027,373,668.00 is for overhead costs.
The balance sum of N768,328,232,759.00 is for capital projects for the FCT financial year commencing from the 1st of January to December 31.
*Extends 2023 supplementary appropriation act implementation to June
Also, yesterday, the Senate approved the extension of the implementation of the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Act from 31st March 2024 to June 30th.
The amendment followed a bill by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele.
*Amends Extradition Act to expand jurisdiction
The Senate also passed, for second reading, the amendment to the Extradition Act, 2004.
According to Senate Leader Senator Bamidele Opeyemi (Ekiti-Central), in his lead debate on the floor of the legislature in Abuja, Section 2 (1) and Section 7(4) of the Act are to be amended in the proposed law.
He explained that in Section 2, the “Act is amended to allow Nigeria to accede to extradition requests from countries with which Nigeria has signed an extradition treaty – as opposed to only Commonwealth countries, as is the case today.
“The present position of the Act applies only to countries within the Commonwealth and any other country with whom Nigeria establishes an extradition treaty or arrangement.
“The proposed amendment in Section 7 of the Act is “to properly set out the procedure for issuance of warrants of arrest for effective execution of extradition requests.”
Giving further information about the extradition law, Opeyemi said, “It’s the legislation that governs the process by which Nigeria can request and obtain the surrender of a person from another jurisdiction, who is accused or convicted of a criminal offence outside the requesting jurisdiction’s territory.”
He added, “The Act is today set for amendment to ensure compliance with Nigeria’s obligation to international bodies in the fight against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing and also to ensure the delisting of Nigeria by the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) from the grey list through compliance.”
The Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Barau Jibrin, presided over the proceedings.
The bill secured a majority voice vote and was referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Human Rights.
The Senate and the House of Representatives are working on the bill simultaneously.
*Honours late Olubadan with a minute silence
Similarly, the Senate observed a minute silence yesterday in honour of the late Olubadan of Ibadan, Senator Lekan Balogun.
The Senate’s resolution followed its consideration of a point of order moved by Senator Abiodun Sharafadeen Ali (APC—Oyo South).
In his lead debate, Ali paid glowing tributes to the late monarch.
Senators approved that the Senate should observe a minute silence in honour of late Olubadan Balogun when the prayer was put to voice vote by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
However, Ali’s prayer, which called on the Senate to immortalise the late Olubadan, a former Senator, by naming one of the Senate’s committee rooms after him, did not gain the approval of his colleagues.
