FG Gets Two-Week Ultimatum from Senate to Submit 2024 Budget Report

Before it considers the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), the Senate has given the executive branch of government two weeks to provide a thorough, written report on how the 2024 budget is being implemented, along with forecasts for the 2025 fiscal year.

Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, led President Bola Tinubu’s economic team in a meeting with the Senate Committee on Finance at the National Assembly in Abuja, where the directive was given.

The ultimatum was issued by Senator Sani Musa, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, who stated that the senate would not begin discussing the 2026–2028 MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) until it had a clear performance report on the current year’s budget.

Senator Musa said, “We must first understand the performance of the 2024 budget before moving forward with the MTEF.”

“Before we examine the 2026 MTEF, you have until October 23 to respond and submit a documented report.”

The Senate Calls for Fiscal Planning Transparency
Musa emphasized that in order for MPs to evaluate the fiscal estimates and economic assumptions included in the MTEF, they need precise performance statistics.

He emphasized that such an assessment was necessary for credible fiscal planning and clarified that the committee’s study will concentrate on revenue performance, expenditure trends, and project execution under the 2024 budget.

“Assumption-based estimates will not receive Senate approval. We need facts, data, and verifiable performance reports to establish accountability in public finance,” the senator added.

Finance Minister Wale Edun, who led talks on Nigeria’s macroeconomic outlook and fiscal policy orientation ahead of the 2025 budget cycle, was among the important members of the President’s economic team in attendance.

The Senate’s stance highlights members’ mounting concerns about the 2024 budget’s implementation rate, namely with relation to debt service commitments, income shortages, and capital releases.

The government’s fiscal policy aims and spending caps for a three-year period are outlined in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which forms the basis of annual budgets.

The Federal Government must now submit a thorough and verifiable report outlining the extent to which the 2024 budget has been implemented by October 23 in order for the Senate to examine the next fiscal plan.