By Mbafan Ade (BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT) –
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed has revealed how the government has been borrowing from recovered loots to fund the budget.
Zainab, who made this known when she appeared before a committee of the House of Representatives in Abuja on Thursday, also said that the government has not been able to repay back the loans taken so far.
The committee is currently investigating how the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, elected since May 2015, has utilized the looted funds recovered from former public officials, including former military head of state, General Sani Abacha (now late).
The Finance minister had appeared before the committee alongside the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris.
In their comments, members of the committee expressed concern that withdrawals were being made from the accounts without the funds being transferred to the consolidated account.
A member of the committee, Wole Oke said the government withdrew N19 billion from the EFCC recovery account and transferred it to the African Development Bank (AfDB) with evidence of budgetary allocation
Oke, who represents Obokun/Oriade federal constituency of Osun State under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), added that the government also borrowed N20 billion to fund the budget of the Ministry of Defence.
He said, “From the EFCC Account, you took N19 billion. You took a whole N19 billion from the EFCC account and paid an international organization. N19 whole billion is not remitted here. I am sure the accountant-general is familiar with this money. On what basis did you withdraw or transfer the money?”
Chairman of the Committee, Adejoro Adeogun queried the Accountant-General for N150 million, which according to him is missing.
The committee also resolved to summon the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, to explain the status of the accounts.