Edun, Bagudu Grilled as Senate Begins 2025 Budget Defence

• Senate committees began rigorous questioning of ministers during the 2025 budget defense sessions, focusing on expenditure and implementation issues
• Finance Minister Wale Edun requested a closed-door session to address questions about fuel subsidy removal and debt servicing details

Ministers and Directors-General of federal agencies faced rigorous questioning yesterday as Senate committees commenced defence sessions for the 2025 budget.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations interrogated Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, alongside Budget and Economic Planning Minister Senator Atiku Bagudu. Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and Ali Mohammed Ali of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) appeared before the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation.

During the session, Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) pressed Edun to explain the expenditure of proceeds from the fuel subsidy removal and how much was saved during the 2024 fiscal year.

Ningi also sought clarity on the nation’s debt servicing costs and questioned whether extending the capital component of the 2024 budget to June 30, 2025, would yield effective implementation given the low current success rate.

Responding to the barrage of questions, Edun requested a closed-door session for detailed explanations, saying, “Are we in a closed-door session? If not, I humbly request one to provide detailed responses.”

Following this request, Committee Chairman Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West) asked journalists to leave the hall for a private discussion.

Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation directed the NOA DG, Issa-Onilu, and his NAN counterpart, Ali, to revise and resubmit their 2025 budget proposals.

Committee Chairman Senator Kenneth Eze (APC, Ebonyi Central) criticized the NOA for the poor visibility of its national identity project at the grassroots level.

Similarly, NAN’s DG was instructed to reconcile inconsistencies in the 2024 budget implementation before submitting the 2025 projections.