Reps Kick As Rectors Shun 2026 Budget Defence

The House of Representatives Committee on Polytechnics and Other Higher Technical Education has expressed displeasure over the poor turnout of federal polytechnic rectors at the 2026 budget defence.

The panel which made its feelings known at a session organised for the exercise over the weekend, described the development as disappointing and unacceptable.

The committee chairman, Hon. Fuad Kayode Laguda, faulted the absence of 10 rectors out of the 14 federal polytechnics invited to appear before the committee for the session.

Laguda said out of the 36 federal polytechnics across the country, only 22 had submitted their budget reports at the time of the exercise, a situation he described as worrisome and indicative of weak institutional compliance with legislative oversight requirements.

He noted that even among the 14 invited institutions that submitted reports, only four were represented at the session.

Those present were the rectors of Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa and Federal Polytechnic Idah, Kogi State, as well as the bursars of Federal Polytechnic Bauchi and Federal Polytechnic Bali, Taraba State.

Laguda said several of the absent rectors cited the forthcoming FCT election and the restriction of vehicular movement as reasons for their inability to attend but insisted that such explanations were inadequate given the importance of the budget defence process.

Laguda emphasised that budget defence is a critical component of the National Assembly’s constitutional responsibility to ensure transparency, accountability, and effective utilisation of public funds. He warned that failure to honour such invitations undermines the seriousness of governance and institutional responsibility.

Briefing journalists after the session, the chairman announced that the committee had no option but to adjourn the exercise to a later date due to the poor attendance.

“Due to logistics and administrative lapses, we will not be able to proceed with the four federal polytechnics present today — Nasarawa, Idah, Bauchi and Bali.

“We are adjourning and postponing their appearance until a new date when we expect a fuller house. We hope that by then, all polytechnics would have complied with our request and will be present for proper engagement,” he added.

Meanwhile, the committee received and adopted the report presented by the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Bugaje, as a working document to guide further deliberations.