The Senate Adhoc committee on Ways & Means, and Anchor Borrowers Programme has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of withholding vital documents, hindering the investigation into the controversial Ways and Means funding.
The Adhoc-Committee Chaired by Senator Isah Jibril was inaugurated by the Senate President with the Mandate to uncover the truth behind the huge accumulation of Ways and Means and the usage of the anchor borrower’s funds.
According to the committee, the CBN has consistently failed to provide the necessary documents, despite repeated requests. The committee’s chairman expressed frustration, stating that the CBN’s lack of cooperation has delayed the investigation.
Concerned that the problem is that the Central Bank of Nigeria has denied the committee consistently the documents that is needed to complete the assignment.
The committee’s preliminary investigation has revealed major infractions, particularly on the part of the CBN. The reports show that the CBN disbursed funds without proper approval, with some transactions totaling billions of naira.
The committee has also given CBN an ultimatum to provide the necessary documents, warns the representative of CBN not come for the next meeting rather insisted that the Deputy Governor of CBN should be the one to appear before the committee and should appear before the committee in next, noting that it is part of his schedule.
Senator Umeh expressing his dissatisfaction raises concern that the preliminary reports shows exactly the earlier report presented when the committee started.
“This is the reason why we are yet to get to the bottom of this inquiry. Full records has to be provided, to be able to unravel this huge accumulation of Ways and Means and then the usage of the anchor borrower’s funds.”
“I find it very difficult to take that CBN cannot answer very simple questions if they have nothing to hide. The documents we received before, the consultants on Ways and Means have been able to show only about 6.7 trillion. And the documents we had that we queried before we stopped, showed indiscriminate approvals and non-approvals of these Ways and Means is what they gave us here again now.
“We have the records. But CBN was not able to answer the questions we put to them, how these funds were used. If you release funds to who, who did you release the funds to?
“There are preponderant disbursements that were not backed with any approval, not even Presidency. Some of them, the Chief of Staff to the President, gave instruction to the Governor of Central Bank to release as huge as 500 billion, 800 billion, 1.5 trillion. They are in the records here.
“So what we are looking for, to be able to tell Nigerians how we arrived at this position, was the essence of appointing these consultants.
“Nigerians have started accusing us of being settled, that the Ways and Means have been swept under the carpet, that the investigation is no longer on. And you assured us that the consultants are working. Now they have come, they’ve given us a report that corresponded with what we found out before we got stuck.
“So I will say that today, we have to decide on how to go forward. The CBN that disbursed all these funds that are shrouded in all kinds of mystery, they have to provide these records. Because CBN is a public institution”, Sen. Umeh queries.
The chairman of the adhoc committee, Sen. Isah Jibril confirmed none submission of the needed document.
“I’ve just spoken to the clerk of the committee. None of those documents were submitted to us. None of those documents were submitted to us. None of those documents. Maybe you need to find out from your staff. None of those documents were submitted to us.
“You were supposed to give us the documents and we were supposed to inturn give all the documents to the consultants, but you never did. CBN didn’t do that, you’ve not submitted the documents to us.
“And as it is, we may not allow you to attend the next meeting. Because you have been coming here consistently. The next person that will attend the next meeting should be the Deputy Governor of CBN.
“I know it is his responsibility. It is part of his schedule. He must appear at our next meeting. What you are telling us is not the truth. We have not received the documents. I don’t want to deceive the public here.
“Having said that, distinguished colleagues, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I want to come up with some closing statements.
“First, when this assignment was given to us, like you all know, the President entrusted us with this assignment and tasked us that we should come up with our report within the shortest possible time. We held several meetings with the relevant parties.
“And when the consultants made available to us this interim report, our intention was to hold on to the interim report until they come up with the final report. Problem is that the Central Bank of Nigeria has denied us consistently the documents that we need to complete this assignment. That is the truth. I was at CBN sometimes.I met the CBN governor. I met Bala, the Deputy Governor. And they promised, yet nothing came out of it.
“My clerk, too, has been there several times. Nothing has come out of it. The consultants themselves even took it upon themselves to go to CBN directly because we introduced them to CBN and nothing has come out of it.
“So let the Nigerian public know that this job has been stuck. This assignment has been stuck by the Central Bank of Nigeria. They’ve denied us the relevant documents to proceed with this job.
“Nigerians will judge you. Having said that, we are legislators. We will not back out.
“You must avail us or avail the consultants all the documents that they require to complete this assignment. The reason for this meeting is to let everybody know why we have not been able to finish this assignment.
“Because it looks as if we have compromised. Naturally, we all have our individual integrity. It looks as if we have compromised.
“I discussed with the Senate President that the Nigerian public may be thinking that we have gone to sleep. And that is not the case. This is a major assignment that bothers everybody. We want to know how these monies were utilized. Okay? We want to know how these monies were utilized.
”Preliminary reports show that there are major infractions, especially on the part of the Central Bank of Nigeria. But you have to defend that. We need all the documents, without exception.
The Adhoc committee chairman, Sen. Isah Jibril further called for CBN compliance in providing all documents needed by the consultants to ensure that this job is completed efficiently and as soon as possible, you must provide.
“As it is, we don’t have a choice than to give them a time limit within which they must provide all the documents to the consultants. Since you are the desk commissioner, how soon can you make all the documents requested available to the consultants?”
The investigation has sparked concerns about the CBN’s transparency and accountability. The committee’s findings have also raised questions about the use of public funds and the need for greater oversight. As the investigation continues, Nigerians await the truth behind the Ways and Means funding controversy.
