Ways and Means Advances

It remains imperative for both the executive and lawmakers to find the political will to push for judiciousness in debt management; thus, eliminating the danger of excessive and unproductive debt. The government of Nigeria must adopt responsible borrowing practices in order to arrive at a sustainable debt stock. As it stands, the Ways and Means advances facility may be prone to abuse if Presidents can easily approach the CBN for loans without repaying and transferring the burden to the average citizen. The AfSDJN recommends that the Tinubu administration only approaches the Central Bank as a “lender of last resort” in strict conformity with Section 38 (1) of the CBN Act. The Federal Government must devise more proactive ways of raising revenue to reduce such borrowing activities as it increases Nigeria’s debt servicing burden as highlighted. Convened by Afronomicslaw.org with the support of Open Society for Southern Africa, (OSISA), the AfSDJN's activities are tailored around addressing the threats that sovereign debt poses for economic development, social cohesion and human rights in Africa. It advocates for debt cancellation, rescheduling and restructuring as well as increasing the accountability and responsibility of lenders and African governments about how sovereign debt is procured, spent and repaid.