By Ayomide Otitoju
With just over two months remaining in the 2024 fiscal year, the House of Representatives has raised concerns over President Bola Tinubu’s failure to comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Lawmakers highlighted the delay in submitting the 2025 Budget Estimates to the National Assembly, a critical process that should have begun months ago.
In a motion moved by Representative Clement Jimbo, the House pointed out that the 2025 Budget Estimates have yet to be presented, leaving little time to properly review and approve the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), and the full budget before the year’s end.
The lawmakers stressed that the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 mandates prudent management of the nation’s resources. Specifically, Section 11(1)(b) of the Act requires that the Federal Government must present the MTEF for the next three financial years no later than four months before the start of the next fiscal year.
The issue has been referred to the House Committee on National Planning for further review.
Meanwhile, on October 2, 2024, President Tinubu left Nigeria for a two-week vacation in the United Kingdom, raising further questions about the government’s preparedness to meet its fiscal obligations before the year closes.
