By Fatima Saka
The National Assembly Joint Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa/NEPAD on Wednesday approved the 2025 budget performance of the NEPAD Agency, amid strong concerns over discrepancies in the agency’s reported utilisation of funds.
The approval followed the adoption of a motion moved and seconded by members of the Committee during a joint budget defence session. T
Deliberations preceding the approval, however, were marked by rigorous scrutiny of the agency’s financial records, particularly its claim of “nil utilisation” despite a reported 24 per cent capital release.
Lawmakers questioned the apparent inconsistency, noting that several line items in the agency’s breakdown reflected actual expenditures. One member cited instances including N15 million spent out of N50 million, N19 million out of N300 million, N22.5 million out of N75 million, and N60 million out of N200 million, arguing that these figures clearly indicated utilisation.
Responding, the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of AUDA-NEPAD Nigeria, Hon. Jabiru Salisu Abdullahi Tsauri, explained that the 24 per cent represented funds released “on paper” under a 30 per cent tranche agreement between the National Assembly and the Executive, but which had not been fully cash-backed for implementation.
He disclosed that the agency had written to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation over a six per cent shortfall and other allocation gaps affecting execution.
The committee directed NEPAD to submit all relevant correspondence within 48 hours, including letters of instruction and official communication relating to the capital releases.
Lawmakers also raised concerns over vague descriptions in some zonal intervention projects captured in the agency’s 2026 budget proposal. They observed that several line items lacked clearly defined project locations and instructed the agency to revise and resubmit the documents to ensure transparency, specificity and accountability.
Attention further shifted to compliance with the federal character principle after a review of the agency’s nominal roll suggested imbalances in staff distribution. While Tsauri stated that personnel deployment was handled by the Office of the Head of Service, the agency’s Human Resources representative admitted that full compliance had yet to be achieved.
The committee emphasised that all government agencies must strictly adhere to the federal character principle and urged management to engage the appropriate authorities to address the identified gaps.
Lawmakers also expressed support for a pending bill seeking to grant NEPAD commission status, which would empower the agency to recruit and manage its own personnel. The committee pledged to prioritise the legislation once formally presented before the National Assembly.
Following the adoption of the 2025 performance report, the committee proceeded to consider and approve the agency’s 2026 budget proposal of N9.52 billion. The proposal comprises N328.6 million for personnel costs, N549.8 million for overhead, and N8.64 billion allocated for capital projects.
Despite the approvals, lawmakers cautioned the agency against incurring liabilities without confirmed releases and stressed the need for stricter transparency and discipline in future budget implementation.
Speaking with journalists after the session, Tsauri expressed satisfaction with the engagement, describing the exercise as a critical mechanism for public accountability.
“Based on the fact that this is an annual event, and we are all accountable to the people of Nigeria, the National Assembly is the body that holds every agency and every person in government accountable. I am 100 per cent satisfied that my 2025 budget performance was approved, and the 2026 proposal was also approved by the Joint Committee,” he said.
On funding constraints, he acknowledged that delayed releases have remained a major challenge across government agencies.
“It is no news. A budget is an allocation of resources, and those resources have to be released in order to be effectively utilised. If not released, there will be problems, which we have seen in 2024 and 2025,” he stated.
He, however, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for steps taken to address funding bottlenecks through reforms reflected in the current fiscal framework.
“I know Mr President has taken huge steps toward the end of last year, which culminated in the budget of this year. This particular year, only one single budget will perform. All the rest will be funded and fully paid, as outlined by Mr President before March this year,” he added.
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Tsauri expressed optimism that ongoing reforms would enhance budget performance and institutional efficiency.
“Nigeria is a growing nation, and a lot of things will be tried until we get it right—and we are getting it right with this administration,” he concluded.
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