The Nigerian Senate has issued a serious warning to federal ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), threatening to deny them budget allocations for the 2025 fiscal year if they fail to appear before the legislative body to account for expenditures made from the 2024 appropriations.
This warning came during an investigative hearing on fiscal accountability, revenue remittance, and financial management chaired by the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa.
Musa told the session that already, some discrepancies had been observed in the records of a number of agencies that must be clarified ahead of the allocation of funds for the 2025 budget.
The Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, and her team were also present at the hearing to respond to queries on financial irregularities.
“This performance index exercise on the various MDAs is preparatory to the 2025 budget. Any agency that failed to appear before this committee upon invitation risks zero allocation in the 2025 budget because records of how appropriations made for 2024 are expended must be provided with facts and figures,’’ Senator Musa said.
The AGoF earlier submitted a summary of the IGR for this year.
The report covered Independent Revenue of N2.7 trillion; Operating Surplus from Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) amounting to N2.3tn; and MDAs’ IGR of N344billion.
However, after going through the records, the panel said they were not detailed and the document was narrowed down only to the AGoF’s office.
Moreover, it summoned all other relevant agencies like the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC); the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI); and and the Nigerian Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for further engagements
Musa stated, “This is not about hearing from one side and another separately; we need all stakeholders present at the same time to provide clarity and consistency in their reports.
“The Senate hearing reflects growing efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s financial oversight and accountability mechanisms, with a shared commitment to enhancing transparency and building a robust fiscal policy framework.”
The lawmakers criticized the inconsistencies in financial records presented by some agencies, citing inefficiencies within the centralised payment system managed by the AGoF’s office.
For instance, lawmakers criticised the centralised payment policy, which requires over 700 MDAs to process payments through one channel, leading to inefficiency, delayed project completion and diminished public trust.
The case of contractors being required to pay under-the-table fees, reportedly 5% of the contract value, to expedite their payments, was also raised by senators.
The AGoF told the panel that stamp duty revenues from 2020 to 2024 were disappointingly low, totalling N30.3 million compared to the N301.49 million IGR for the period.
Senators blamed this development on the poor budget performance since taxes are only collected when payments are made.
