House of Representatives Proposes Removal of NECO, UI, 21 MDAs from 2025 Budget

The House of Representatives has proposed excluding the National Examinations Council (NECO), the University of Ibadan, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, and 21 other ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) from the 2025 budget.

This recommendation stems from the repeated failure of these organisations to account for prior budgetary allocations and internally generated revenue.

The resolution was reached during an extraordinary session of the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives held in Abuja.

According to the committee chairman, Rep. Bamidele Salam, the decision was prompted by the persistent noncompliance of the MDAs with summons to examine their financial operations.

The affected agencies include universities, hospitals, and development agencies, among others.

Rep. Salam stated that the recommendation followed several invitations issued to the MDAs over recent months. These agencies reportedly failed to attend the hearings or submit the required documentation.

Among the listed organisations are the Federal Medical Centre, Bida; Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria; the Nigeria Police Force; the Department of Information and Communication Technology; the Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba; the Federal College of Education, Yola; and the Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe.

Rep. Salam explained, “The Financial Regulation empowers the National Assembly to exclude any ministry, department, or agency (MDA) that fails to account for their previous appropriations. As such, the listed MDAs should be excluded from the 2025 budget until they appear before this constitutional committee.”

The committee unanimously agreed to recommend that the 24 MDAs be excluded from the 2025 budget until they comply with the summons and provide the necessary clarifications.