Delayed MTEF: CSO demands explanation from budget minister

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a Nigerian knowledge institution, has called on the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, to provide an explanation as to why his ministry has yet to submit the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027.

Section 11(2) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) mandates the Federal Government, after consultation with states, to “prepare a Medium-Term Expenditure Framework for the next three financial years, not later than four months before the commencement of the next financial year.”

Section 14 of the same Act also mandates the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning to, before the end of the second quarter of each financial year, present the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for consideration and endorsement. Thereafter, the MTEF, as endorsed by the FEC, shall take effect upon approval by a resolution of each House of the National Assembly.

When contacted, a source at the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning told The Guardian that the MTEF has not been submitted to the National Assembly because it has not yet been considered by the FEC.

CSJ, in a statement signed by its Lead Director, Barr. Eze Onyekpere, on Monday, said the implication of the foregoing provisions is that the MTEF 2025-2027 should have been endorsed by the Federal Executive Council by the end of June 2024 and should have been presented to the National Assembly in August 2024.

“However, the Minister is yet to prepare and present the MTEF 2025-2027 to the Federal Executive Council or the National Assembly, about seven weeks to the end of the year and in the middle of November,” the statement said, adding that the MTEF is not ready and the budget estimates are not ready.

Onyekpere, in the statement, said this is a gross violation of the clear and unambiguous provisions of the FRA. “It is a gross dereliction of duty on the part of the Minister. If the National Assembly had lived up to its duty of representing the interest of Nigerians, the executive should have been reminded, sanctioned, and called to order,” he said.

The statement reads: “This process of ensuring the sanctity of the FRA and that it is obeyed to the letter should have been commenced by NASS immediately upon their return from their mid-year legislative vacation.”

“By this dereliction of duty, the Minister has already laid a solid foundation for the late consideration and passage of both the MTEF 2025-2027 and the 2025 federal budget and their subsequent haphazard implementation.

“This dereliction of duty also paves the way for the budgetary corruption involved in rushed approval and appropriation of funds, where wholesale corruption will be cemented in votes that are clearly illegal, inappropriate, and wasteful. It also facilitates corrupt procurement and its associated scams to beat deadlines arising from late passage to late implementation of budgets.”

The body demanded that the minister immediately submit the MTEF 2025-2027 to the National Assembly—if it has been prepared—an explanation to Nigerians about the reasons, if any, informing the dereliction of duty, to tender an apology to Nigerians who bear the brunt of the failure to perform, and a formal and substantive guarantee of non-repetition.

There is uncertainty hanging over the 2025 budget, as the presidency has not given any sign of its readiness to present the budget anytime soon.

The implication is that the budget cycle of January to December may be altered.