Sergius Ose Ogun, a member of the house of representatives, has called for the removal and prosecution of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for allegedly violating the provisions of the CBN Act 2007.
Ogun who made the call during plenary on Wednesday, noted that the total borrowings of the Federal Government of Nigeria from the CBN in the past six years have been in flagrant breach of Section 38 of the CBN Act, 2007;
Section 38 of the CBN act states that;
(1) “Notwithstanding the provision of section 34(d) of this act, the bank may grant temporary advances to the federal government in respect of temporary deficiency of budget revenue as such rate of interest as the bank may determine.”
(2) “The total amount of such advances outstanding shall not at any time exceed five percent of the previous year’s actual revenue.”
Ogun noted that he is concerned that from January to June this year, this administration has borrowed the sum of N2.4 trillion from the CBN which surpasses 5% of revenue made in 2021.
He said “Worried that within the first six months of 2022, the Federal Government has borrowed a total of N2.4 trillion from the Central Bank of Nigeria which is far above five percent of the Federal Government’s revenue for 2021, which stood at N3.9 trillion.
He also expressed concerns about the rising debt profile of the FG according to the Debt Management Office, which stands at N33.11 trillion as of March 2021, excluding the N15.51 trillion debt of the Federal Government to the CBN.
He said, “that Section 38 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 permits it to grant loan advances to the Federal Government in respect of temporary deficiency of budget of budget.”
“Section 38 of the CBN Act provides that loans shall be repaid by the Federal Government the same financial year it was granted, if the government fails to repay the loan as stipulated, the powers of the Central Bank of Nigeria to grant further loans to the Federal Government shall not be exercised.”
He noted that Sections 88 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) empowers the National Assembly to conduct investigations into the activities of any authority executing or administering laws made by the National Assembly.
Rep Ogun consequently resolves to;
(i) Urge the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to immediately remove Mr. Godwin Emefiele from office as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria for violating the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.
(ii) Also urge the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to immediately prosecute Mr. Godwin Emefiele for violating the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.
(iii) mandate the Committee on Banking and Currency to ensure compliance and report back within four (4) weeks for further legislative action