The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, sternly cautioned Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) not to adopt a lackadaisical approach when justifying their budgets during a stakeholders’ retreat organized by the Committee on Appropriations.
The event, titled “2024 Budget: Budget and Budgetary Processes, Delivering Improved Outcomes in 2024,” was held at the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Represented by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, Akpabio emphasized the potential consequences of non-compliance by individuals or agencies in the eventual passage of the 2024 Appropriation Bill.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Finance, Wale Edun, stressed Nigeria’s depleted fiscal space and the imperative need to focus on concessional funding and climate financing.
Highlighting the pivotal role of the budget in addressing the nation’s economic challenges, Senator Solomon Olamilekan, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, underscored the event’s significance.
He emphasized its continuation from the 10th National Assembly’s efforts to ensure an inclusive budget process for the nation and maintain the commitment to the January–December budget cycle.
Recalls that President Bola Tinubu presented the proposed N27.5 trillion 2024 budget to a joint sitting of the National Assembly last Wednesday. Furthermore, the Senate initiated debates on the budget’s general principles on November 30, 2023, eventually passing it for the second reading on December 1, 2023.
