Frontline Economic Rights Activists (FERA), on Thursday, urged the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, to save Nigeria from further embarrassment by honouring the February 24 deadline earlier promised for the payment of local contractors.
The call came as the Senate Committee on Appropriation subjected Edun and top officials of the nation’s economic management team to hours of intense questioning at the National Assembly over zero releases for the capital components of the 2025 budget.
The Senate had summoned the Finance Minister and other economic managers following what lawmakers described as the complete non-performance of capital expenditure, a situation they said had crippled government activities nationwide.
Expressing concern over the poor implementation of ministries’ and agencies’ capital budgets, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Solomon Yayi, declared that “the era of rubber-stamp budgeting is over,” stressing that the session was not routine oversight but “a full fiscal autopsy.”
He reminded the Finance Minister of the presidential directive mandating Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to fund 30 per cent of prior obligations before March 2026, with the remaining 70 per cent to be absorbed into the new budget framework.
Responding, Edun admitted that the 2025 budget implementation faltered significantly, explaining that government revenues were largely channelled toward salaries, pensions and statutory transfers, leaving capital projects severely underfunded.
According to him, “actual receipts barely covered recurrent expenditure,” forcing difficult fiscal prioritisation by the government.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Comrade Abdullahi Musa, and made available to journalists Thursday evening, FERA commended the Senate Committee on Appropriation for what it described as standing up for Nigerians’ economic rights.
The group, however, accused the Finance Minister of being economical with the truth, alleging that he failed to provide similar explanations during a December meeting convened by President Bola Tinubu, which led to the directive that local contractors be paid immediately.
Musa further alleged that Edun and the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, had given conflicting positions on the same economic issues, describing their handling of the matter as misleading.
“As far as the National Assembly appropriated funds for these projects and with all monetary and fiscal laws backing them, nothing should have delayed the releases since the funds were available,” the statement said.
FERA claimed that the finance ministry had promised to clear over ₦4 trillion owed to local contractors on eleven different occasions within the past six months without fulfilment, describing the repeated delays as damaging to Nigeria’s credibility.
The group therefore called on the Finance Minister to honour the February 24 payment deadline agreed with protesting contractors, stressing that settling the debts was both an economic necessity and a matter of national reputation.
It also criticised remarks allegedly attributed to the Minister of State suggesting an extension of the implementation timeline for 30 per cent of the 2025 capital budget to November, warning that such a move could worsen economic conditions.
The activists urged President Tinubu to take decisive action to restore confidence in economic management and prevent further deterioration of the nation’s economy.
