The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has faulted the National Assembly for allegedly failing to uphold its constitutional responsibility by allowing successive federal administrations to violate laws governing borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Speaking over the weekend on the importance of institutional strength and accountability, the former CBN governor said the legislature did not hold the executive accountable despite clear legal limits on government borrowing from the apex bank.
Sanusi noted that the law allows the Federal Government to borrow only up to five per cent of the previous year’s revenue from the CBN, but claimed the provision had been repeatedly breached without intervention from the National Assembly.
“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 argued that the legislature 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,” he said.
Reflecting on his tenure as CBN governor, Sanusi said, “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.”
The former CBN governor said Nigeria’s economic challenges could have been reduced if public institutions had consistently enforced the law and demanded accountability.
He added that stronger democratic institutions and greater oversight are essential to preventing similar fiscal problems in the future.
