Reps Summon Ministers Over Poor Budget Implementation
The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, and the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Atiku Bagudu, over poor budget implementation.
The House on Tuesday held a closed-door session with Edun, Bagudu, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi; and the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji.
A lawmaker who attended the session told The PUNCH in confidence that the meeting focused on the poor implementation of the capital components of the 2024 and 2025 budgets. He said lawmakers expressed deep frustration over the government’s failure to release funds for projects already executed.
As a result, the House resolved not to consider the 2026 Appropriation Bill until the Federal Government clears outstanding payments owed to contractors under the 2024 and 2025 budget cycles.
In protest, the House stepped down consideration of about 42 bills listed for first, second, and third readings. It also deferred the presentation of four committee reports on bills proposing the establishment of agricultural colleges and specialised institutions in Kaduna, Edo, and other states.
For the third time, the House also suspended its planned consideration of the constitution review report submitted last week by the Committee on Constitution Review.
The executive session lasted nearly two and a half hours and ended without an official briefing.
However, a member familiar with the discussions said the lawmakers were dissatisfied with what they described as President Bola Tinubu’s poor budget performance so far.
He said, “It was the same issue of poor implementation of the 2024 and 2025 budgets. I mean the capital component of the budgets. Projects executed have not been paid for, and this is really embarrassing.
“We have been on this for a while now, and despite the assurances we got today, many of us took it with a pinch of salt because the assurances are not new. Members were so angry that they vowed not to consider the 2026 Appropriation Bill when it is transmitted by the president unless the funding gaps in the previous budgets of this administration are addressed.”
He added that the Accountant-General pleaded for time to settle the outstanding payments. “The Accountant-General pleaded with lawmakers to be given 48 hours to address the concern of local contractors. As representatives of the people, we granted this request. But I can tell you that some of us are not optimistic,” he said.
In a separate interview, Edo lawmaker Billy Osawaru urged the Federal Government to prioritise payments to contractors, stressing that many had taken loans to execute the projects.
He said, “Since the contractors have fulfilled their obligations by executing the 2024 projects, they deserve to be paid, considering the fact that the majority of them secured loans using collateral. The executive must restore its integrity by prioritising these payments.”
The Minority Leader of the House, Kingsley Chinda, also condemned the poor level of implementation, saying full execution of the budgets was necessary to restore public confidence. “The only solution is for a commencement of full implementation of the budgets,” the Rivers lawmaker said in a telephone interview.
