Adetilewa Adebajo, an expert on international financial markets, reportedly said the Nigerian Debt Management Agency (DMO) violated the law when it exceeded its set limit of $2.2 billion worth of loans The report said. Adebajo also suggested that Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele should be investigated for inflating the DMO’s borrowings to over $48.8 billion.
The DMO was charged with violating the Fiscal Responsibility Act
According to Adetilewa Adebajo, an expert on international financial markets, Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) violated the law when its borrowings exceeded $2.2 billion (1 trillion naira) In remarks allegedly made in an interview with Arise TVAdebajo claimed that the DMO could be sued for violating both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act and the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
The DMO is allowed to borrow domestically without a mandate from the National Assembly, meaning that the agency’s borrowing, which currently exceeds $48.8 billion, violates the law.
“DMOs are not required to go to the National Assembly before borrowing from abroad, but Ways and Means gives them the right. But it’s supposed to be no more than 1 trillion yen; it’s 22 trillion yen ($48.8 billion), which means it’s over the limit. This is where it is illegal,” Adebajo reportedly said.
Experts condemn Nigeria’s planned debt securitization
Meanwhile, another report quotes Adebajo as saying that Nigeria’s central bank governor Godwin Emefiele should be investigated for allowing the DMO to exceed its borrowing limit (28). Regarding the Nigerian government’s planned 40-year securitization of debt, Adebajo argued that such a thing was illegal.
“They want to send the securitization proposal to the Ways and Means Committee of the National Assembly, but under which law? There is no law in Nigeria that provides for bringing ways and means financing to the National Assembly for approval,” the expert reportedly said.
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