Budget Defence: Ministers, MDAs Under Fire In Senate

Top shots in the executive arm of government, like the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, the Director General of National Orientation Agency (NOA) Mallam Lanre Issa—Onilu, and his counterpart in the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN), Ali Mohammed Ali, were separately put under fire in the Senate during the 2025 budget defence sessions.

While the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, were put on hot seats by the Senate Committee on Appropriation, the DG of NOA and that of NAN had very tough encounters with the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation.

The Minister of Finance encountered trouble when some members of the Appropriation Committee fired at him a barrage of questions on the state of implementation of the 2024 budget, particularly the capital component.

Specifically, Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP Bauchi Central), in the barrage of questions fired at the Minister, asked him to explain how proceeds from fuel subsidy removal were expended in the 2024 fiscal year.

“What is the budget performance achieved for the 2024 fiscal year, particularly regarding capital expenditure?

We haven’t heard from the Minister how much has been saved from the removal of fuel subsidy and how much has been expended.

“We also haven’t heard from the Ministers about the debt servicing. How much did we use to service our debt in 2004?

“How much are we expecting to service the debt in 2005? Finally, will the Minister of Finance guarantee that the extension of the capital component of the 2024 budget to June 30, 2025, will give the desired results in an implementation with a very low percentage now?”

Unsettled by the question, the Minister hurriedly requested that the committee accord him a closed-door session for a detailed response.

“Are we in a closed-door session? If not, I will humbly seek that for detailed explanations on the questions asked,” he said.

The Committee Chairman, Senator Solomon Olamilekan (APC Ogun West), asked journalists to excuse themselves for the closed-door session.

Earlier at the budget defence session, the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation met with agencies under its purview. The Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Issa—Onilu, and his counterpart in the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali Mohammed Ali, were ordered to redraft and present their budgetary proposals for the 2025 fiscal year.

The committee, chaired by Senator Kenneth Eze (APC Ebonyi Central), tackled the NOA DG on the National Identity Project being implemented by the Agency by saying Nigerians, particularly those residing at the grassroots, are not aware of it.

However, the NOA DG held his ground by telling the committee members that the project was necessary to establish the right value system.

“The challenge we have about our value system is National Identity, which is necessary for galvanising Nigerians for nation-building, national development, and growth,” he said.

The Committee, however, insisted that he go back and re-draft the agency’s programmes to be captured and appropriated for the 2025 fiscal year.