By: Bayero Ade
Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, called for a closed-door session during the 2025 budget defense at the Senate, after facing intense questioning about the management of funds saved from the removal of the fuel subsidy.
According to Politics Nigeria, Senator Abdul Ningi led the questioning, pressing Edun for detailed information on how the proceeds from the fuel subsidy removal were used during the 2024 fiscal year. Lawmakers raised several critical queries, including the performance of the 2024 budget, the amount saved from the subsidy removal, the spending breakdown, and the allocation for debt servicing.
Senator Ningi also questioned the expected outcomes of extending the capital component of the 2024 budget to June 30, 2025, in light of the current low implementation rate.
In response to the grilling, a visibly unsettled Edun requested, “Are we in a closed-door session? If not, I humbly request one to provide detailed explanations on these matters.”
The Senate Committee Chairman, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, granted the request, instructing journalists to leave the room as the session continued behind closed doors.
In related news, the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation also interrogated Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), and Ali Mohammed Ali, the Director General of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). The NOA DG was asked to revise and resubmit the agency’s 2025 budget proposal, while the NAN DG was tasked with addressing discrepancies in the implementation of the 2024 budget.
Leave a Reply