By Winifred Momoh
Reps demand that the MTEF be submitted on time for the 2025 budget.In order to give lawmakers enough time to work on the 2025 Appropriations Bill (when submitted), the House of Representatives urged the Federal Government to urgently transmit the Medium Term Expenditure Framework to the National Assembly on Wednesday. This is due to the lawmakers’ dissatisfaction with the practice of presenting annual budget proposals to the parliament later than expected, which leaves them with little time to complete their work effectively. The lawmakers are drawn from a variety of political parties.The House adopted a motion of urgent public importance, proposed by Mr. Clement Jimbo, the member representing the Abak/Etim Ekpo/Ika Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom State. In his plea for support, Jimbo cited the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007’s Section 11(I) as a requirement for the executive branch to follow. The act guarantees the long-term macroeconomic stability of the country’s economy and allows for the prudent management of the nation’s resources.
According to the legislator, Section 11(1)(b) mandates that “The Federal Government shall cause to be prepared and laid before the National Assembly an MTEF for the next three financial years, not later than four months before the commencement of the next financial year.”. He expressed concern about the provisions of Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as Section 30(1) of FRA 2007, which, subject to other provisions of the 1999 Constitution, provide that “Each House of the National Assembly shall have the power, by passing resolutions, to direct, or cause to be directed, an investigation into any matter or thing to which it has power to make laws, and into the conduct of affairs of any person, authority, ministry of government department charged or intended to be charged with the duty of or responsibility for the execution of administering laws enacted by the National Assembly and for the disbursing or administering monies appropriated or to be appropriated by the National Assembly.”He claims that the non-compliance of the executive branch with section 11(1)(b) of the FRA 2007 is technically taking away the time that the National Assembly needs to carry out its duties as stipulated in section 88(2)(b). “.”The timely late arrival of annual budget proposals is one of the ways Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of Government shortchange Nigerians,” said Billy Osawaru (APC, Edo State), in his contribution. “It should take four months to review budget estimates if that is the case.
Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda also contributed and endorsed the motion, pointing out that lawmakers would find it challenging to examine the budget estimates in the best interests of Nigerians if they did not reach the parliament on time. “This government takes pride in adhering to the January-December budget cycle,” he stated. It’s a positive step. “We were essentially hurried to finish the estimates in the 2023 budget in order to keep up with the January–December cycle. “This cannot occur once more. The MTEF ought to have arrived by now. Bob Solomon, the representative for Rivers State’s Abua/Ahoada East Federal Constituency, praised the motion’s maker and asked his colleagues to back it.
“We need the time to thoroughly support the budget for 2025. The most significant is the Appropriations Bill. Let’s not consider the appropriation bill going forward if it is sent to us without enough time,” he stated. Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, who chaired the plenary session after the motion was adopted, urged the Federal Government to immediately submit the 2025 Budget proposal to the National Assembly in accordance with section 11(1)(b). It also required the Committees on Finance, Appropriations, and National Planning and Economic Development to guarantee compliance in two weeks.
