By our Reporter
The Senate at an emergency session on Saturday approved a seven month extension in the implementation of the N819 billion 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act.
The extension of time according to the Senate said the implementation is till December 31, 2023 became necessary to enable the Federal Government fund the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act, which is meant to construct critical infrastructure destroyed by the 2022 flood episode.
Also, the Red Chamber increased the amount the Central Bank of Nigeria can loan to the Federal Government through Ways and Means Advances from 5 per cent to 15 per cent representing 200 per cent upward review.
This resolution followed the amendment of Section 38 of the CBN Act which empowers the apex bank to grant such advances by the Senate during its emergency session.
The section reads: “Notwithstanding the provisions of the section 34(d) of this Act, the Bank (CBN) may grant temporary advances to the Federal Government in respect of temporary deficiency of budget revenue at such rate as the Bank may determine. The total amount of such advances outstanding shall not at any time exceed five (5) per cent of the previous year’s actual revenue of the Federal Government.”
The National Assembly had in December 2022 approved a supplementary appropriation bill in the sum of N819,536,937,813.00.
The N819billion was allocated as follows: Agriculture – N69 billion, Works – N704 billion, FCTA – N30 billion and Water Resources – N15.5 billion.
However, the implementation of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act was put on hold following the refusal of the Senate to approve a request by the federal government to borrow the sum of N1trillion from the CBN through Ways and Means Advances and the securitization and restructuring of the N22.7 trillion already obtained from the CBN by the Federal Government through its Ways and Means Advances.
The Senate, on May 4, 2023, approved the request of President Muhammadu Buhari to restructure the N22.7 trillion loans that the CBN advanced to the federal government under its Ways and Means policy.