The National Assembly has directed the Federal Government to immediately withdraw all circulars already issued for contract awards under the 2025 fiscal year.
The directive was jointly adopted on Thursday by the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu’s economic management team at the National Assembly, Abuja.
This resolution came a day after the House Appropriations Committee had, in a separate interactive session with the government’s fiscal managers, raised concerns over premature directives on the implementation of the 2025 budget.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Ogun West), who read the resolution, said: “The capital component of the 2024 budget will continue until December 31, 2025.
“The implementation of the capital component of the 2025 budget will commence as soon as possible, as the Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) should be issued within seven days after this session with the economic team.
“Circulars issued by the Ministry of Finance to the MDAs should be withdrawn pending the issuance of AIE.”
The lawmakers’ move underpinned mounting concerns over delays in rolling out the capital expenditure plan at a time Nigeria grapples with high inflation, dwindling foreign reserves, and rising public debt.
Thursday’s meeting had in attendance the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu; Accountant-General of the Federation, Samsudeen Ogunjimi; and Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu.
Following the adoption of the resolution, lawmakers and members of the economic management team went into a closed-door session.