The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has accused the National Assembly of failing to enforce laws regulating government borrowing, alleging that lawmakers allowed successive administrations to breach statutory limits on loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
Sanusi, a former CBN Governor, said the legislature abandoned its constitutional duty of checking the excesses of the executive, despite clear provisions limiting government borrowing from the apex bank.
Speaking on the need for stronger institutions and accountability, the monarch said the law permits the Federal Government to borrow only five per cent of the previous year’s revenue from the CBN.
“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.
According to him, the National Assembly cannot function as an independent arm of government if it fails to hold the executive accountable.
“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 added.
The former CBN governor recalled appearing before lawmakers on several occasions over monetary policy matters, questioning why the same level of scrutiny was not applied when government borrowing allegedly 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.
Sanusi maintained that Nigeria’s economic challenges could have been reduced if public institutions had consistently enforced the law and held the executive accountable.
