Key Points
- Senate warns MDAs to account for 2024 funds or lose 2025 allocations.
- Lawmakers uncover financial gaps in IGR reports from MDAs.
- Alleged contractor kickbacks spark calls for stricter accountability.
Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) have received a severe warning from the Senate Finance Committee, which threatens to withhold 2025 budget allocations from any agency that does not account for cash provided in the 2024 fiscal year.
Senate threatens MDAs with zero funding over 2024 spending
According to Punch, the warning was given on Monday at an investigative hearing on Nigeria’s financial management system, fiscal responsibility, and internally generated revenue (IGR).
Sen. Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), the chairman of the Finance Committee, stated unequivocally that agencies looking to get cash from the 2025 budget must be transparent.
After a meeting with Oluwatoyin Madein, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Musa concluded by stating that the performance index exercise on the various MDAs is a prelude to the 2025 budget.
“As records of how appropriations made for 2024 are spent must be provided with facts and figures, any agency that does not show up for this committee upon invitation risks having no allocation in the 2025 budget.”
Accountant-General’s report exposes financial gaps in IGR
An IGR report for the Federal Government through September 2024 was submitted by the AGF at the hearing. According to the report, government-owned businesses generated ₦2.7 trillion in independent revenue, ₦2.3 trillion in operational surplus, and MDAs generated ₦344 billion in IGR.
Despite these numbers, the Senate committee condemned the report, claiming that it ignored important facets of the Federal Government’s broader financial operations and primarily addressed the AGF’s office.
In response, the committee decided to call a joint session of important organizations, such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), and the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), to examine the financial disparities.
Musa remarked, “This is not about hearing from one side and another separately.” “For their reports to be clear and consistent, all stakeholders must be present at the same time.”
Inefficiencies related to the central payment system run by the AGF’s office were cited by other committee members as reasons for their irritation with the ongoing delays in capital budget releases.
Legislators characterized the practice as a severe accountability issue and expressed concern about claims that contractors are being requested to pay a 5% underhanded fee in order to speed up payments.
According to the AGF, stamp duty receipts between 2020 and 2024 were only ₦30.3 million, while ₦301 million was anticipated.
The Senate Finance Committee instructed the AGF to deliver all requested reports by Wednesday, December 11, 2024, in order to maintain financial openness, prior to a follow-up hearing that day at 2:00 p.m.
