During the 2025 budget defence session in the Senate, Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, found himself under intense scrutiny over the implementation of the 2024 budget, particularly regarding capital expenditure and the proceeds from fuel subsidy removal.
The drama unfolded when Senator Abdul Ningi, former Deputy Senate Leader representing Bauchi Central, raised pointed questions about how the government had spent the savings from the fuel subsidy removal in the 2024 fiscal year.
Ningi questioned the finance minister on the specifics of the expenditure, as well as debt servicing details, saying, “We haven’t heard from the Minister how much has been saved from the removal of fuel subsidy and how much has been expended.”
He further pressed Edun on the capital expenditure performance for the 2024 fiscal year and whether the extension of the capital budget to June 30, 2025, would lead to the desired results.
In response to the barrage of questions, Edun, visibly unsettled, requested a closed-door session for a more detailed explanation of the fuel subsidy spending and other fiscal matters.
“Are we in a closed-door session? If we are not, I will humbly seek that for detailed explanations on the questions asked,” Edun said.
Senator Olamilekan Adeola, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, granted Edun’s request and instructed journalists to leave the room to facilitate the closed-door session.
Earlier, the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation, chaired by Senator Kenneth Eze, also put the Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, and the Director General of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali Mohammed Ali, under pressure regarding their budget proposals for 2025.
The NOA was asked to revisit its 2025 budget proposal for the National Identity Project, with the committee members asserting that the project was not well known to the Nigerian public, particularly those in rural areas.
Issa-Onilu defended the project, calling it crucial for national development and growth, but the committee insisted on a revised proposal.
Similarly, the NAN DG was instructed to reconcile discrepancies in the 2024 budget implementation figures before presenting the 2025 projections.
