Akpabio noted that the 2024-2026 MTEF/FSP is being examined at a time when Nigeria is experiencing severe financial and socioeconomic pressure from most development indices.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has called on President Bola Tinubu to sack heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) who shunned the public hearing of the 2024 – 2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
Akpabio made the call while speaking at the public hearing of the MTEF/FSP on Thursday in Abuja, where he referred to the action of absenteeism as “the beginning of their failure.”
He said: “If you don’t plan how to succeed then you have planned to fail. I, therefore, remind our committee that 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.
“The Chairman of the lead committee (Finance), should give me the list of all the Heads of Agencies that were invited who have failed to show up in this session, this is the beginning of their failure in their various offices.
“Any head of agency that sends representation here is not a serious person. 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 the 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 “.
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Additionally, he stressed that the 2024-2026 MTEF/FSP is being examined at a time when Nigeria is experiencing severe financial and socioeconomic pressure from most development indices.
“Internationally, the intractable Russian-Ukraine war and the sudden Israeli-Palestine war are having international economic repercussions that have consequences for our economic outlook. In addition, we are in the throes of the immediate effects of needed reforms in our foreign exchange system and the equally needed removal of subsidy on petroleum products. Coupled with the security challenges confronting the nation, there is no doubt that we must be bold in economic projections and policies to stimulate employment and economic growth.
“While we acknowledge that the majority of our people are going through very difficult times in their daily lives at present, we are very hopeful that in the short term and the long run, the Nigerian economy will rebound for relief to the majority of our people,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa (APC Niger East), adjourned the interactive session to Monday next week, to give the invited agencies more time to forward the required documents requested of them by the committee.
