The Nigerian Senate has given the nod to the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).
The approval came after the presentation of the report of a Senate Joint Committee, chaired by Senator Sani Musa, following an in-depth scrutiny of the estimates proposed by the various federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in the fiscal document.
The upper chamber, during the document’s consideration at plenary, approved a borrowing plan of N7.8 trillion for 2024, N9 trillion budget deficit, and federal government’s total expenditure of N26 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, after extensive deliberation, put the approval of the fiscal document to a voice vote, and it garnered overwhelming support from the members.
Specifically, the upper chamber set the oil price benchmark at $73 per barrel of crude oil, 1.78 million barrels per day, and sustained as outlined in the MTEF/FSP documents. A special intervention (recurrent) of N200 billion, special intervention (capital) of N7 billion, and an exchange rate of 700 naira to a United States dollar were also approved.
The Senate further mandated the ban of all locally produced items from importation and approved the resolution for a review of the laws of all revenue-generating agencies, as observed by the joint committee in the report. The purpose is to enhance the agencies’ ability to enforce fiscal responsibility and impose sanctions on erring corporations.
During the session, the Senate also considered the joint panel’s recommendation to wind up and deregister the subsidiaries of NIPOST, deeming them irregular and illegal.
There was extensive debate on the recommendation by the joint panel for a thorough investigation into the N10 billion released by the Ministry of Finance for the proposed restructuring and recapitalization of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST).
Another recommendation that sparked debate was for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to reduce its production and operational costs to increase available government revenue. The resolution was adopted unaltered by the house after thorough arguments.
Other recommendations included ensuring the deployment of ICT in the collection of all revenues by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), as well as stamp duty collection activities to block leakages.
The Senate showed determination by urging the National Assembly to commence the process of amending the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA, 2007) to reinforce the agencies’ responsibility and impose sanctions on defaulting corporations. This marks a significant step towards ensuring fiscal accountability.
Furthermore, the significant power wielded by the Senate in shaping the country’s fiscal policies to drive economic growth underscores the critical role of the legislature in ensuring proper checks and balances in the governance of Nigeria’s economy.
