Business and Economy
Keep Your Promise to Local Contractors, Economic Rights Activists Urge FG, Finance Minister As Senate grills Edun, others
Frontline Economic Rights Activists (FERA) on Thursday called on the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, to save the nation from embarrassment by honouring the February 24 deadline earlier promised to local contractors.
This came as the Senate Committee on Appropriation grilled Mr.
The Senate had invited Mr. Edun and other managers of the nation’s economy over the zero releases recorded for the capital components of the 2025 budget, a situation lawmakers said had crippled government activities.
Expressing concern over the zero performance of virtually all Ministries and agencies’ capital budgets in 2025, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Solomon Yayi, declared that “the era of rubber-stamp budgeting is over,” stressing that the summons was not a routine oversight but “a full fiscal autopsy.”
He also reminded Edun and other officials of the presidential directive requiring Ministries, Departments and Agencies to fund 30 per cent of prior obligations before March 2026, with the remaining 70 per cent to be absorbed into the new budget.
In his response, the Finance Minister admitted that the 2025 budget had faltered significantly, explaining that government prioritised salaries, pensions and statutory transfers, while capital projects suffered. According to him, “actual receipts barely covered recurrent expenditure.”
In a statement signed by its Spokesperson, Comrade Abdullahi Musa, and made available to journalists on Thursday evening, FERA commended the Senate Committee on Appropriation, stressing that Nigeria belongs to all citizens.
The group accused the Finance Minister of being economical with the truth, noting that when President Tinubu invited him and his team in December, he did not present the same explanations given before the Senate, which, according to FERA, informed the President’s directive that local contractors be paid immediately.
Musa further alleged that both Edun and the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, were treating Nigerians with disregard by giving conflicting positions on the same issues.
“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. At no time did either Wale Edun or Doris Uzoka-Anite inform the President or anyone that there were no funds to service the projects.
“All we hear are promises upon promises. In the last six months, the duo have promised to clear the over N4 trillion owed to local contractors eleven times, and on each occasion, they failed to honour their commitments. This shows a lack of integrity and commitment on their part and constitutes a great embarrassment to the country.
“We call on Mr. Edun and his team to keep the promise made a few weeks ago to the protesting local contractors that their outstanding debts would be cleared by February 24. This must be done not only as an economic priority but to spare Nigeria further embarrassment.
“We also condemn the statement credited to the Minister of State today, purportedly extending the implementation of the 30 per cent of the 2025 capital budget to November. This move will not stand. It demonstrates a lack of concern about the worsening state of the economy and a poor understanding of how these indices could ultimately ground the nation’s economy. We therefore call on the President to take decisive action by relieving Uzoka-Anite and Edun of their duties to safeguard the economy,” the statement added.
