By Mercy Aikoye
The House of Representatives Committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Councils and Ancillary Matters has rescheduled the budget defence session with the Minister of State for FCT, Dr. Mariya Bunkure. The new session is set to hold on Monday next week, where the Minister and heads of some agencies will appear before the committee.
The Minister had initially failed to appear before the committee on Monday, prompting the lawmakers to summon her. However, she appeared on Tuesday and apologized for her absence, attributing it to the short notice given and requesting more time to prepare adequately for the budget defence.
The committee declared that the Minister of State was yet to defend the budget under her purview, despite the earlier presentation by the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, before the joint Senate and House Committees on the FCT. The committee chairman, Hon. Fredrick Agbedi, clarified that the budget segments supervised by Bunkure were not covered in Wike’s presentation.
Agbedi explained that Wike’s appearance was before a different committee, and only Bunkure was responsible for defending the budgets of the departments and agencies under her supervision. “The areas the President assigned to you are also under our oversight,” Agbedi told the Minister. “Only you can speak to their budget performance and projections.”
The committee chairman emphasized that Bunkure was expected to appear before the committee to defend the budget of the departments and agencies under her jurisdiction. He noted that the committee’s oversight function was separate from the FCT Committee, which Wike appeared before.
Agbedi stated that the committee needed to know what was appropriated to Bunkure’s departments, how it was spent, what challenges were encountered, and what provisions to make for 2025. “We need to scrutinize their performance and projections, one after the other,” he said.
The committee warned that if its process is not followed correctly, the House may be misled into approving a budget without the necessary legislative scrutiny. Hon. Ahmad Jaha, a committee member, reiterated that the FCT had yet to defend its 2025 budget fully and that the committee was prepared for a thorough review.
Jaha added that the committee would scrutinize each department’s performance and projections, and any delay in Bunkure’s reappearance could lead to serious consequences for the budget’s approval process. “If you fail to adhere to the agreed date, it won’t be our fault if your budget approval is delayed, possibly into December,” he warned.
The committee has given Bunkure the opportunity to propose a convenient date for her appearance, and she has agreed to appear before the committee on Monday next week with the relevant agencies under her purview to defend their budget.
