Senate Grills Finance Minister Over Fuel Subsidy Savings and Debt Servicing
The Senate turned up the heat on the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, on Thursday, pressing him to account for the Federal Government’s savings and spending since the removal of fuel subsidies in June 2023.
The grilling came during Edun’s appearance to defend the 2025 budget, but it quickly veered into a tense exchange over unaddressed fiscal concerns, including the utilisation of fuel subsidy proceeds and the cost of debt servicing.
Calls for Accountability
Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) led the charge, questioning Edun on the state of the 2024 budget’s implementation, particularly the capital expenditure component.
Ningi asked, “What is the budget performance achieved so far for the 2024 fiscal year, particularly in terms of capital expenditure?
“We haven’t heard from the minister how much has been saved from the removal of fuel subsidy and how much has been expended.
“We also haven’t heard about debt servicing. How much have we actually used to service our debt in 2024, and how much are we expecting to spend in 2025?”
He further pressed Edun to guarantee that the recent extension of the 2024 capital budget implementation deadline to June 30, 2025, would lead to tangible results.
Minister Seeks Closed-Door Session
Caught off guard, Edun requested a private session with lawmakers, saying, “Are we in a closed-door session? If we are not, I will humbly request that for detailed explanations on the questions asked.”
In response, Senator Solomon Olamilekan (APC, Ogun West), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, cleared journalists from the room to allow the minister to address the Senate in private.
Tough Questions for Other Officials
Edun wasn’t the only government official facing a grilling. Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Atiku Bagudu and the Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, also had difficult sessions defending their budget proposals.
The NOA DG faced pointed criticism from Senator Kenneth Eze (APC, Ebonyi Central) over the agency’s National Identity Project, which Eze described as largely unknown to Nigerians. Defending the initiative, Issa-Onilu argued, “The challenge we have about value systems is tied to national identity, which is crucial for galvanising Nigerians toward nation-building and development.”
Similarly, the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali Mohammed, was told to revise his agency’s budgetary figures for 2025 after failing to adequately reconcile those from 2024.
A Crisis of Preparedness
The tense encounters underscored growing frustrations within the Senate over perceived lapses in fiscal transparency and policy implementation. The scrutiny reflects broader concerns over how the Federal Government is managing critical economic transitions, including the aftermath of the fuel subsidy removal and the spiralling costs of debt servicing.
As lawmakers push for greater accountability, the closed-door session may have bought Edun time, but the questions raised are unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
