Senate Grills Finance Minister and Budget Officials Over Fuel Subsidy Savings and 2025 Budget Plans

 

On Thursday, the Senate took Finance Minister Wale Edun to task over the Federal Government's savings and spending since the removal of the fuel subsidy in June 2023. Edun was appearing before lawmakers to defend the 2025 budget, but he faced tough questions, especially about how the government is handling its finances, including its debt servicing.

Things got a little tense when members of the Senate’s Appropriation Committee started asking about the progress on the 2024 budget, particularly how much of it was being spent on capital projects. Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) asked the finance minister about the impact of the fuel subsidy removal, saying they hadn’t heard any clear updates on how much had been saved or spent.

Ningi didn’t hold back, asking, "How much has been saved from the subsidy removal, and how much have we used on debt servicing?" He also pressed Edun on whether extending the capital component of the 2024 budget until June 30, 2025, would actually lead to meaningful results, given the low execution rates so far.

Edun, seemingly unprepared for the grilling, responded by asking if the session could be closed to the public, suggesting that he needed more privacy to give detailed answers. The Committee Chairman, Senator Solomon Olamilekan (APC, Ogun West), then asked journalists to step out for the closed-door session.

But Edun wasn’t the only one in the hot seat. The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, along with the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, also faced tough questions about their 2025 budget proposals. Both had a challenging time defending their plans, and the NOA DG and the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali Mohammed, were also grilled on their budget proposals.

In fact, the Senate committee asked both the NOA and NAN leaders to revise and resubmit their 2025 budget proposals. The NOA DG was called out for the National Identity Project, which the committee said most Nigerians hadn’t heard of. He defended the project, saying it was crucial for national development. Similarly, the NAN MD was told to reconcile discrepancies in the 2024 budget before moving forward with the 2025 proposal.

It was a tough day for the government officials, as they faced intense scrutiny from lawmakers about their financial plans for the country’s future.