Reps raise concerns over poor budget implementation, delayed releases to MDAs

By Gift Chapi Odekina, Abuja

The House of Representatives was thrown into a rowdy session on Wednesday after Speaker Tajudeen Abbas stopped an attempt by a lawmaker to invite President Bola Tinubu to appear before the chamber over the implementation of the 2025 budget.

The incident occurred during the consideration of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh (Labour Party, Abia), who expressed concern over inadequate funding of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and persistent delays in the release of appropriated funds.

Presenting the motion, Ikwechegh said disclosures by ministers and heads of MDAs during the ongoing 2026 budget defence sessions indicated that several agencies had received little or no capital releases in 2025 despite appropriations approved by the National Assembly.

According to him, the delays have stalled critical projects across the country and left many contractors, who financed government projects through bank loans, awaiting payment for completed and verified contracts.

He recalled that President Bola Tinubu had directed at a Federal Executive Council meeting in December 2025 that verified contractor liabilities, estimated at about ₦1.5 trillion, be settled. However, he noted that despite the directive and legislative approvals, releases to MDAs remained slow or, in some cases, had not been made.

Ikwechegh also drew attention to a Treasury Circular reportedly issued on June 29, 2026, by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, suspending payments for zonal intervention and constituency projects pending the issuance of Certificates of Verification and Compliance by the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs.

He urged the House to commend the President for directing the settlement of contractor liabilities and to call for the immediate implementation of the directive.

The session became heated when the lawmaker went beyond the prayers contained in his motion and proposed that President Tinubu be invited to appear before the House to explain the delays in budget implementation.

Before he could conclude, Speaker Abbas interrupted him, reminding him that the proposal was not part of the motion before the House and directed him to restrict his submissions to the approved prayers.

The intervention sparked sharp reactions across the chamber. While some lawmakers supported the suggestion, others opposed it, arguing that under the Constitution, ministers and heads of government agencies—not the President—are responsible for accounting for budget implementation.

The disagreement deepened when Hon. Godwin Oga Mobi proposed an amendment seeking the postponement of the House Open Week to allow lawmakers to concentrate on addressing the budget implementation challenges. The amendment was seconded by Hon. Sani Lawan.

Also contributing, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi (Plateau) backed the substantive motion but opposed any move to invite the President. He argued that parliamentary oversight should focus on officials directly responsible for implementing government policies.

Gagdi further requested that the House split the question to enable members to vote separately on the proposal to invite the President and the other prayers contained in the motion.

The request triggered loud protests from lawmakers, with members shouting across the chamber as supporters and opponents exchanged arguments.

Speaker Abbas repeatedly called for order before ruling against the request to split the question, insisting that the House would proceed in line with its rules and the motion as presented.

Following the ruling, calm was restored and the House concluded consideration of the motion.

The House subsequently urged the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria to prioritise timely releases and cash-backing of appropriated funds, publish a clear schedule of releases for the 2026 fiscal year, and conclude the verification and payment of outstanding contractor liabilities within a defined timeframe.

Lawmakers also called on fiscal authorities to ensure that the over ₦1 trillion borrowing approved by the National Assembly is applied strictly to the settlement of verified capital project obligations and to provide the legislature with a full account of its utilisation.

The House further urged the Office of the Accountant-General to review the June 29 Treasury Circular and align it with the President’s directive by introducing clear timelines for issuing verification certificates to avoid further delays.

As part of its resolutions, the House proposed the constitution of an ad hoc committee, to be chaired by the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, to engage relevant fiscal authorities on the status of fund releases, contractor payments and the utilisation of approved borrowings.

The committee is expected to report back to the House within four weeks with recommendations for further legislative action.

Only a third force can liberate Kwara State in the 2027 general elections, says Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress.

Oyedepo was a leading member of the ‘Otoge Revolutionaries’ who swept the Peoples Democratic Party government out of power in 2019 and installed the ruling All Progressives Congress in Kwara State,

In an exclusive interview with DAILY POST in Ilorin on Tuesday, he said with the deep acrimony and visible division in the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state, the hope of the party remains very slim, because the majority of the members could for other political parties.

Oyedepo, who was one of the vocal members of the revolution alleged that Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq betrayed the trust invested in him, saying,  ‘but I have no regret personally, though this is not what we worked for’.

“We used the revolution to liberate the people of the state but the APC national leadership imposed Governor Abdulrazaq on Kwara APC.

“I went to about 30 leaders of the party in 2024 in the state to warn that Governor Abdulrazaq would ruin all of us unless we check him, but they did not listen to me and what I predicted in 2024 is coming to reality.

“The governor has given his consent to those he prefers and it could be the end of APC in Kwara,” he declared.

Oyedepo said, “though I am in African Democratic Congress, as the Senatorial candidate for Kwara South Senatorial District, the crisis may be an opportunity for the Peoples Democratic Party and it may not be, if APC is rejected.

The former state commissioner, however, argued that “sensible people in the APC should not embrace PDP because they are almost the same since dynastic governance is common to the two parties.”

He advised the electorate to look for a party that has no godfather and is not dynastic if Kwara must be liberated and allowed to grow and develop as a second generation state.

The vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has rejected comments by former Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, dismissing the electoral prospects of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in Northern Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general election.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Kwankwaso said he was disappointed by Sheriff’s remarks during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, where the former Borno governor claimed that Northerners would not vote for Obi.

“After a prolonged absence from public discourse, one would have expected that time away might have sharpened Senator Sheriff’s judgment. Regrettably, that does not appear to be the case,” Kwankwaso said.

He faulted Sheriff for presenting himself as the voice of Northern voters, insisting that Obi had already demonstrated considerable acceptance in the region during the 2023 presidential election.

“It is curious that he has appointed himself spokesperson for the Northern masses.

“For the record, in his first outing on the presidential ballot, Mr. Obi secured approximately 2.8 million votes in the region—a remarkable achievement that cannot be dismissed lightly,” he stated.

Kwankwaso also argued that the prevailing economic situation and dissatisfaction with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration had strengthened the prospects of the NDC’s presidential ticket.

“Given the current national hardships, the widespread consensus on the failure of the APC administration, and the addition of a strong Northern figure to the ticket who previously garnered 1.45 million votes in the region, the OK ticket remains a formidable force in Northern politics,” he said.

Responding to Sheriff’s claim that Kano voters would not support Obi, Kwankwaso described the assertion as inaccurate and defended the political disposition of the state’s electorate.

“Let me state clearly: the good people of Kano are neither bigoted nor xenophobic. They have consistently demonstrated strong trust in the Kwankwasiyya movement and will support any credible ticket presented under its banner,” he said.

The former Kano State governor urged Sheriff to concentrate on addressing the security and humanitarian challenges confronting Borno State rather than making what he described as divisive political comments.

“I respectfully advise Senator Sheriff that, in future national television appearances, he would do better to speak to the serious insecurity and humanitarian challenges facing his home state, rather than making divisive and poorly considered remarks,” Kwankwaso stated.

He maintained that the NDC’s “OK ticket” offers “the best opportunity for Nigerians to reset the country and place it on a path of competence, unity, and progress” ahead of the 2027 presidential election.