Wale Edun requests closed-door session as senator queries Tinubu’s economic team on proceeds from fuel subsidy removal
Abdul Ningi, the senator representing Bauchi Central senatorial district, Abdul Ningi, on Thursday, queried President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic team led by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, over failure to explain how proceeds from the removal of fuel subsidy were expended last year.
Ningi, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenged the government officials when they appeared before the Senate Committee on Appropriations to defend budgetary allocations of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government.
President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of the fuel subsidy on 29 May 2023 during his inauguration.
Meanwhile, PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the federal government pays an average of N501.47 as a subsidy on each litre of petrol in at least eight cities, which the same government repeatedly denied
However, during Thursday’s budget defence, the Bauchi senator asked the economic team to disclose the status of the fuel subsidy.
He also demanded an explanation of the actual status of Nigeria’s foreign debt servicing.
“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 from the minister about the debt servicing. How much have we actually used to service our debt in 2024? How much are we expecting to service the debt in 2025,” he said.
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Mr Ningi also complained about the poor performance of the 2024 budget, especially the implementation of capital projects across the country, where he specifically asked whether the federal government would achieve all proposed capital projects in the 2024 budget before its expiration in June.
“Finally, will the minister of finance guarantee that the extension of the capital component of the 2024 budget to June 30, 2025, will give the desired results in terms of implementation that has a very low percentage now,” the senator asked.
Responding, Mr Edun requested that the senators should discuss the questions privately.
“Are we in a closed-door session? If we are not in a closed-door session, I will humbly seek for that for detailed explanations on the questions asked,” the minister pleaded.
Thereafter, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Adeola Olamilekan, directed the committee members to go into a closed-door session to discuss the issues.
Source: Premium Times
