The Senate chambers were charged with tension on Thursday as lawmakers grilled the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, over the Federal Government’s handling of funds since the removal of the fuel subsidy in June 2023.
The session, intended for the defence of the 2025 budget, turned into an intense probe of government spending and fiscal transparency.
Edun’s day took an unexpected turn when members of the Senate Appropriation Committee demanded clarity on two critical issues: how much has been saved from the subsidy removal and how the funds were spent. The minister also faced scrutiny over the Federal Government’s ballooning debt servicing obligations.
The turning point came when Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) fired off pointed questions about the implementation of the 2024 budget, particularly the capital expenditure component.
“What is the budget performance achieved so far for 2024, especially in terms of capital expenditure?” Ningi asked. “We haven’t heard how much has been saved from the subsidy removal or how much has been spent. What are the numbers for debt servicing in 2024, and what do we expect to spend in 2025?”
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Caught off guard, Edun appeared to fumble for answers, prompting him to abruptly request a closed-door session. “Are we in a closed-door session? If we’re not, I humbly request one for detailed explanations,” he said, drawing murmurs from the lawmakers. The Committee Chairman, Senator Solomon Olamilekan (APC, Ogun West), promptly asked journalists to leave the room.
But Edun wasn’t the only one under fire. The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, faced similar grilling, while the heads of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) were also on the hot seat for their 2025 budget proposals.
Senator Kenneth Eze (APC, Ebonyi Central), who chaired the session with the NOA and NAN, criticized the agencies’ submissions. The NOA’s Director-General, Lanre Issa-Onilu, was pressed to justify a “National Identity Project,” which Eze described as obscure and unrelatable to ordinary Nigerians.
Issa-Onilu defended the initiative, stating, “The challenge with our value system is tied to national identity, which is crucial for nation-building and development.”
Similarly, NAN’s Managing Director, Ali Mohammed, was directed to reconcile discrepancies in the agency’s 2024 budget performance before the Senate could consider its 2025 proposal. Both heads were ordered to redraft and resubmit their budget proposals.
Thursday’s hearings laid bare the mounting frustrations within the Senate over what lawmakers see as poor budget implementation and lack of transparency.
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