Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Senate, stated that the National Assembly, which is under his direction, is resolved to establish a boundary with the heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) who disobey the committees’ summonses and invitations.
Speaking at the Senate’s public hearing on the 2024–2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), Akpabio made the statement on Thursday.
The goal of the public hearing was to increase the nation’s revenue base by critically examining the fiscal document with the chief executive officers of federal government revenue-earning agencies. The hearing was organised by the Senate Joint Committees on Finance, Appropriations, National Planning and Economic Affairs, Local and Foreign Debt.
The MTEF/FSP will establish the guidelines for the 2024 Budget once it is adopted.
Any serious presidential appointee who wanted President Tinubu to succeed, according to Akpabio, had to be present for the interactive session on the MTEF/FSP.
According to Akpabio, the conversational meeting with MDA heads was tactical. He informed the senators, reporters, and some of the chief executive officers of the revenue-generating officers gathered that he declined to accompany the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at their grand finale rally on Thursday in Owerri, Imo State, in advance of the election on Saturday, in order to attend the meeting with MDAs.
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He disclosed that his administration will notify President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of its disapproval of any federal agency head who declined to testify before Senate joint committees.
“Any serious appointee or head of any agency that is interested in President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s success ought to be here,” he declared.
“The chairman ought to provide me with a list of all the heads of the agencies you invited but who were unable to attend this meeting.
“This marks the start of their failure across all of their offices. That’s why I’m glad to see the FIRS chairman here. Along with others, I have also seen the DG NIMASA.
It is not a threat; rather, the President should reconsider appointing any head of agency that sends a representative here since they are not a serious person.
“I even cancelled every other commitment I had, including my appointment to speak at my party’s final rally in Owerri today, so that I could be present and help us strategize how to win.”
The federal government set the price of crude oil at $73.96, the exchange rate at N700/$, the amount of oil produced daily at 1.78 million barrels, the amount of debt serviced at N8.25 trillion, the rate of inflation at 21%, and the rate of GDP growth at 3.76 percent in the MTEF/FSP that was submitted to the National Assembly.
For the 2024 budget, the total expected spending is N26.01 trillion. This amount comprises N1.3 trillion in statutory transfers, N10.26 trillion in non-debt recurrent expenditure, N8.25 trillion for debt servicing, and N7.78 trillion for personnel and pension costs.
