Nigeria’s Senate, the upper legislative chamber, on Monday inaugurated an ad-hoc committee to investigate the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) Ways and Means loans to the Federal Government and the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) intervention funds in the agriculture sector over the past years.
In his inaugural address to the ad-hoc committee chaired by Senator Isah Jibrin, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio charged the committee to leave no stone unturned in its investigations of the apex bank’s monetary interventions and that the committee should submit its report within six weeks.
He urged the members of the committee to set aside personal and partisan interests, focus on the task at hand, and approach their responsibilities with utmost balance, devotion, and impartiality.
Appreciating the sensitivity of the task of the committee, Akpabio reminded them to constantly engage with relevant stakeholders and consultants, to gain insights into the monetary interventions while engaging the executive arm of government and the Nigerian public in communication to get all the critical information needed for a successful completion of their assignment.
In his remarks, the chairman of the ad-hoc committee promised that the members would carry out the assignment without any bias or compromise and appealed to officials of the executive arm of government to release information and avail themselves to the committee when their attention or clarifications are needed.
The inauguration of the ad-hoc committee was attended by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso; the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein; the Auditor-General of the Federation, Shaakaa Chira; the Director General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha.
Others include the representatives of the beneficiary ministries, departments and agencies, institutions, states, and local governments, among others.
