An aide to former President Mohammed Buhari has dismissed claims made by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, who attributed the current economic challenges in the country to mismanagement of the economy during Buhari’s two terms from 2015 to 2023.
The aide argued that the total funds injected into the economy by the CBN during that period amounted to N7.5 trillion, significantly lower than the N35 trillion cited by Cardoso.
Recent data from the CBN indicated that Nigeria’s overall money supply rose by 14.22 percent, reaching N107.1 trillion between January and August 2024, up from N93.77 trillion in January 2024.
During a press conference regarding the outcomes of the September Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, Cardoso commented, “In 2015, the money supply was around N19 trillion, and by 2023, it had increased to N54 trillion. This represents a substantial rise, with a significant portion attributed to Ways and Means financing.”
He asserted that the printing of N35 trillion resulted in an excessive amount of money circulating in the economy, which led to a situation where too much money was chasing a limited supply of goods.
Cardoso’s comments addressed the extensive issuance of money via ‘Ways and Means,’ a mechanism through which the Central Bank of Nigeria provides loans to the government.
He argued that this method, lacking sufficient backing from corresponding economic output or productivity, flooded the economy with an excess of naira, ultimately diminishing its value.
However, a senior aide to Buhari, who requested anonymity due to not having authorization to speak on the issue, contended that the figures presented were incorrect.
The aide stated that the total amount of Ways and Means advances from the Consolidated Revenue Fund during Buhari’s eight years in office was N7.5 trillion.
“I have read the story and my thinking is that Nigerians will just be laughing at them. The real position of things is that from the beginning, when the then-acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (was in office), that issue arose from that moment.
“The CBN was called by the National Assembly, what were their numbers? And the numbers for Buhari were not more than N7.5tn for all eight years.
“The Cable newspaper did a report challenging the National Assembly that they had promised to release a report. They (NASS) said they were going to release a report. The last time we heard that, they said they would release it in September. There are numbers, as given authoritatively by the central bank,” he stated.
The aide supported his position with a letter he alleged was the Central Bank of Nigeria’s response to a Senate inquiry regarding the issue at that time.
Dated January 16, 2023, and titled “Re: The Senate Special Committee on Ways and Means,” the letter was directed to the office of the Senate Majority Leader.
It read in part, “All letters received by the CBN for processing of the advances are provided in Appendix 1 & 2. However, kindly note that the figure of -22,719,7033,774,306.90 is the balance of the Treasury Sub-Treasury Account as of December 19, 2022.
This account is the account mandated for granting overdraft facilities to the Federal Government account.
“We have also attached a summary page that details the Ways and Means granted between 2015 and 2022 as Appendix 3.”
From 2015 to 2023, Buhari’s administration encountered considerable fiscal challenges, notably stemming from declining oil prices and a decrease in oil revenues.
To address budget deficits, the government increasingly depended on the central bank to fund its expenditures, resulting in the printing of trillions of naira.
Both Cardoso and Finance Minister Wale Edun stated that this monetary expansion was not accompanied by corresponding productivity, which contributed to rampant inflation and a depreciating currency, making everyday goods and services increasingly unaffordable for Nigerians.
Efforts to elicit a response from officials at the CBN and the presidency regarding the claims made by the former President’s aide were unsuccessful, as no replies had been received by the time this report was published on Saturday night.
