The National Assembly, yesterday, passed an amendment to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, which increased the apex bank’s threshold of Ways and Means Advances to the federal government from five per cent to a maximum of 10 per cent.
However, in the House of Representatives, opposition lawmakers, yesterday, staged a walkout following the decision of the House to approve the amendment to the CBN Act to increase the Ways and Means advances.
Similarly, yesterday, the senate rescinded its decision on the amendments it made to the 2024 Appropriation Act by repealing and re-enacting the law.
Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, led the debate on the amendment to the CBN Act in the red chamber.
CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, had said the apex bank would no longer give Ways and Means to the president until the previous loans were repaid.
But speaking on the bill, Bamidele said, “Permit me to lead the debate on this bill, which seeks to amend the CBN Act to increase the total CBN advances to federal government.
“The bill was read for the first time in this chamber on Wednesday, 31st July, 2024. The very essence of this bill is to enable the federal government meet its immediate and future obligation due to the government increasing needs for funds to finance the budget deficits and other expenses.”
