The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has strongly criticized the National Assembly for failing to enforce laws regulating government borrowing, accusing lawmakers of turning a blind eye as the executive repeatedly breached statutory limits on loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) .
Speaking on the need for stronger institutions and accountability, the former CBN Governor argued that the legislature neglected its constitutional responsibility to provide checks and balances, allowing violations of the country's fiscal rules to continue unchecked for years .
"Law Broken With Impunity"
According to Sanusi, existing legislation clearly limits the amount the Federal Government can borrow from the apex bank to five per cent of the previous year's revenue, yet the provision was repeatedly ignored without any meaningful intervention from lawmakers .
"The law said you cannot lend more than five per cent of last year's revenue. That law was broken with impunity. Where was the National Assembly? For eight years, the National Assembly was silent," he said .
He maintained that a legislature that fails to independently scrutinise the actions of the executive cannot effectively serve as a separate arm of government .
"The legislature is supposed to make laws and ensure those laws are obeyed. If it cannot stand up to the executive, then it simply becomes an extension of the executive rather than an independent institution," Sanusi stated .
Contrast with His Tenure as CBN Governor
Reflecting on his time as CBN governor, the Emir recalled appearing before lawmakers on numerous occasions over routine monetary policy issues, contrasting that experience with what he described as the National Assembly's silence when government borrowing exceeded legal limits .
"I was summoned before the National Assembly more than 20 times over minor matters relating to the Central Bank. I was questioned, harassed and challenged. Yet, for eight years, when the borrowing law was being violated, the same lawmakers remained silent," he said .
The Ways and Means Controversy
The violations Sanusi referred to involve the "ways and means" facility—temporary advances from the CBN to the Federal Government to finance budget deficits, which must be repaid within the fiscal year they are borrowed . Under the CBN Act, these advances are capped at five per cent of the previous year's revenue .
However, successive governments, particularly under former President Muhammadu Buhari, accumulated over N30 trillion in such advances without repayment, far exceeding the legal limit . The National Assembly was later asked to approve the securitisation of these loans—converting them into long-term bonds—a move critics described as retroactively legitimising illegal borrowing .
Call for Stronger Institutions
Sanusi argued that Nigeria's current economic difficulties could have been mitigated if public institutions had consistently enforced the law and demanded accountability from the executive .
"So this is about institutions. The legislature was supposed to pass the law to make sure that that law was being complied with. If we had that pressure from the legislature, pressure from economists, pressure from international analysts, it would have been very difficult for us to be where we are," he said .
He stressed that sustained pressure from the legislature would have made it far more difficult for successive governments to disregard fiscal regulations .
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