Using CBN loan to finance purchase of CNG buses, Senate warns Tinubu.

Using CBN loan to finance purchase of CNG buses, Senate warns Tinubu.

On Tuesday, the Senate opposed any move by President Bola Tinubu to finance the purchase of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Ways and Means.

Aftermath of the remover of fuel subsidy, the CNG buses are to ease the transportation pains of Nigerians

The Senate advised President Tinubu to seek a supplementary budget for his CNG initiative and warned against illegal spending.

The Senate through its Committee on Gas, led by Senator Jarigbe Jarigbe, gave the warning, urging the executive arm of government to expeditiously present a 2023 Supplementary Budget to the National Assembly to kick start the CNG initiative.

Jarigbe, who insisted that the law was against extra-budgetary spending, however commended Tinubu for the CNG initiative.

The Senate warned that it would be illegal to spend taxpayers’ money, or the money without approval by the National Assembly, on other projects in the gas value chain.

Commending Tinubu on his CNG revolution to power vehicles, Jarigbe said: “The noble initiative would ameliorate the hardship of the citizens. Also, the President needs to come up with a supplementary budget to enable the government to fund the gas value chain, including the provision for CNG infrastructure and CNG vehicles.”

According to him, the workshops and training for CNG adoption would need to be funded, adding that “The President should not embark on extra-budgetary expenditure because it would be inconsistent with the provisions of the law.”

Jarigbe stated that the National Assembly, under the leadership of the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, was poised to support the lofty programs of Tinubu. He added that a 2023 supplementary budget would be most appropriate, instead of the ‘Ways and Means’ approach of the previous administration, which had remained a major issue of contention in the Central Bank of Nigeria.