Budget 2024: Akpabio Urges Tinubu to Sack Any Appointee Who Shuns N’Assembly Summons 

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja 

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remove from office, any minister or head of government agency that shuns any invitation from the National Assembly committees. 

Akpabio spoke at the opening of a public hearing on the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) at the Senate Thursday. 

The public hearing was organised by the Senate Joint Committees on Finance; Appropriations; National Planning and Economic Affairs; and Local and Foreign Debts.

Chaired by Senator Sani Musa, the joint panel would scrutinise the fiscal document with the chief executives of government-owned agencies with a view to increasing the national revenue base.

The Federal Government, in the 2024-2027 MTEF/FSP, pegged the price of crude oil at $73.96; exchange rate at N700/$; oil production at 1.78 million barrels per day; debt service of N8.25 trillion; inflation at 21 per cent and GDP growth at 3.76 per cent.

The aggregate expenditure was estimated at N26.01 trillion for the 2024 budget.

It includes statutory transfers of N1.3 trillion, non debt recurrent expenditure of N10.26 trillion, debt service estimated at N8.25 trillion, as well as N7.78 trillion being provided for personnel and pension cost.

The approved MTEF/FSP would set out the parameters upon which the next year’s budget would be predicated.

Akpabio said the interactive session on the MTEF/FSP was a very important session and any serious presidential appointee that wanted President Tinubu to succeed must be present. 

He added that due to the importance of the session, he shelved his appointment to appear at the grand rally of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Owerri, Imo State held Thursday. 

He said any invited head of agency that fails to appear to discuss the economic blueprint of the Federal Government is not fit to run such agency and should be sacked. 

The Senate President said: “Any serious appointee or any head of any agency that is interested in the success of President Bola Tinubu’s administration ought to be here. 

“Chairman should give me the list of all the heads of agencies that you invited who have failed to show up in this session. 

“This is the beginning of their failure in their various offices. Therefore, I am happy to see the chairman of FIRS, he is here. I have also seen the DG NIMASA and others.

“Any head of agency that sends representation here is not a serious person and therefore the president must take a second look at such a person’s appointment, it is not a threat but the truth. 

“I shelved even my appointment to appear in Owerri today for our final rally of my party and all other schedules that I have, to make sure that I appear so that we can strategise on how we can succeed.”

The Chairman of the Joint Panel, Sani Musa, appealed to the heads of federal agencies to show the required seriousness needed to make the exercise a huge success.

He said: “Our role as legislators in shaping the MTEF/FSP is not only a constitutional obligation but a moral imperative to our constituents who look to us for guidance and leadership in safeguarding their economic interests. We must engage in thorough and unbiased deliberations, focusing on the welfare of the Nigerian people. 

“In this endeavour, I call for unity and cooperation between the legislative and executive branches.

“It is only through collaboration and consensus building that we can develop fiscal policies that are robust, equitable and conducive to sustainable economic growth. The challenges ahead are formidable, but our resolve is stronger. 

“I urge each esteemed member to lend their expertise, insight and untiring commitment towards its thorough review and subsequent implementation.

“It is only through collective wisdom and concerted effort that we can fine-tune the economic machinery of our nation, driving it towards prosperity and inclusive growth.

“Our duty today is not merely to pass a framework; it is to shape the economic destiny of our nation for generations to come.”