Opposition lawmakers walkout as Reps vote to raise ‘Ways and Means’ borrowing

By Christiana Ekpa

Some opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives staged a walkout from the Green Chamber yesterday over the increment of the controversial Central Bank of Nigeria ways and means lending to the Federal Government.
The protest happened during the debate on the amendment of Section 38 of the CBN Act to increase the borrowing level from 5 per cent to 10 per cent.
The lawmakers want the threshold to be reduced from the current 5 per cent to 2 per cent.
It would be recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari was criticized for taking over N23 trillion from the CBN under the Ways and Means policy, which threw the country into debt crisis.
During the debate, Kingsley Chinda, the Minority Leader, said instead of increasing the threshold, it should be decreased.
However, two members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Ayokunle Isiaka and Ahmed Wase, moved that the threshold should be kept at 10 per cent.
Wase later moved an amendment and it was adopted by the House following a voice vote.
Angered by the voice vote, some lawmakers staged a walkout in protest.