ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria’s upper chamber of parliament on Tuesday said it would invite the central bank governor and the ministers of finance and defence to explain the release of $462 million to buy helicopters, a lawmaker said.

Senator Sam Anyanwu said the money was withdrawn from the federal account in March without the approval of lawmakers.

“Senate Resolves to invite the CBN Governor and Ministers of Finance and Defense to shed more light on the release of the funds,” the Senate said in a tweet.

(This version of the story corrects figure in headline and paragraph 1 after senator clarifies $462 million not $162 million; alters attribution to lawmaker not Twitter)