- Reps repeal, enact 2024 Appropriation Act
It was a rowdy scene at the emergency plenary session called by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Wednesday.
The debate centred on a bill seeking to raise the Ways and Means cash advances from the Central Bank of Nigeria from five per cent to 10 per cent.
This followed the consideration of “A Bill for an Act to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 to increase the Central Bank of Nigeria’s total advance to the Federal Government from five per cent to a maximum of 15 per cent and for other related matters.”
Members elected on the platform of seven opposition parties staged a walkout during plenary after an amendment by the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, to reduce the Ways and Means to two per cent was rejected.
Ways and Means refers to the money that the CBN lends to the Federal Government to augment spending based on the timing of revenue generation.
The existing law provides that the advance by the apex bank must not exceed five per cent of the previous year’s revenue of the Federal Government.
Lawmakers who voted in support of the increase from five to 10 per cent included Abubakar Yalleman (APC, Jigawa), Saidu Abdullahi (APC, Niger), and Ibrahim Wase (APC, Plateau), among others.
When the bill was put to a voice vote by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the plenary session, lawmakers voted against the proposed percentage.
However, Kalu ruled in favour of the ayes, prompting a walkout by opposition lawmakers.
Also, the Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to increase the percentage of Ways and Means loans the Central Bank of Nigeria can give to the Federal Government.
The upper chamber of the Nigerian legislature raised the credit facility obtainable by the Federal Government from the apex bank from 5% to 10%.
Known as the Ways and Means, the apex bank offers short-term financing to the Federal Government to cover its budget shortfalls.
To do this, the Senate amended the CBN Act to increase the total CBN advances (loans) to the Federal Government.
The bill for the amendment of the CBN Act was considered at plenary on Wednesday when it was read for the first time.
The Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele said the executive bill read for the first time on Wednesday is to enable the Federal Government to meet its immediate and future obligations owing to the government’s increasing needs for funds to finance the budget deficits and other expenses.
He explained that the loans would enable the provision of immediate funds to address budget shortfalls and finance essential government expenditures as well as help maintain financial market stability by preventing government default on its obligation.
Bamidele said the loans, when injected into the economy, will stimulate economic activity, potentially create jobs and enable the government to support critical sectors like agriculture, healthcare and infrastructural development.
He added that the loans will lower the government’s borrowing cost by providing cheaper funds than the traditional borrowing method.
Opeyemi and his colleagues argued that the margin of increase should be from 5 to 10 per cent.
They asserted that although the increase was necessary for economic development, adequate monitoring of capital projects should be enhanced to ensure that the funds are used for the sole purpose of infrastructure and legacy projects.
After consideration in the Committee of the Whole, the executive bill scaled the third reading and was passed.
President Bola Tinubu is expected to sign the amended bill into law.
Reps repeal, enact 2024 Appropriation Act
Similarly, the House of Representatives on Wednesday repealed and enacted the Appropriation Act, 2024, amounting to N35.06trn, to address possible legal gaps in the extant law.
Of the total sum of N35.06trn, N1.74trn is for statutory transfers, N8.27trn for debt service, N11.26trn for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, while N13.77trn is for contributions to the development fund for capital expenditure.
At the emergency session on Wednesday, the House considered and passed a “Bill for an Act to repeal the Appropriation Act, 2024, and enact the Appropriation Act, 2024, to authorise the issuance from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation of the total sum of N35.06tn.”
Earlier at the session, the House rescinded the decision on the long title, explanatory memorandum, and clauses 13 and 14 of the Appropriation Bill passed last Tuesday and committed the same provisions to the Committee of Supply for reconsideration.
This followed the adoption of a motion moved by the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Francis Waive.
Moving the motion, Waive, who represents Ughelli North/Ughelli South/Udu Federal Constituency, Delta State, recalled that the Appropriations Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was passed on Tuesday, 23 July 2024.
He added that while taking a detailed look at the bill, the Directorate of Legal Services observed some legal gaps that require reconsideration.
He noted that clauses 13 and 14 of the bill, as well as the long title and explanatory memorandum, need to be amended to reflect the intent of the Appropriation Act.
