President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, transmitted the 2026 statutory budget of the Federal Capital Territory Administration to the Senate for consideration and approval.
Also, the President asked the Senate to screen and confirm Mr Taiwo Oyedele as Minister of State for Finance, replacing Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite.
The President also urged the upper chamber to confirm former Rivers South-East senator, Magnus Abe, as chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
The letters conveying the budget proposal and confirmation approval were read on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, during plenary.
The lawmakers, on Tuesday, resumed from a three-week recess held to allow committees to conduct budget defence sessions.
Under Nigeria’s constitutional framework, the National Assembly exercises legislative authority over the Federal Capital Territory, making the approval of the FCT budget a responsibility of the federal legislature.
Last year, the President submitted a similar request seeking the approval of the upper chamber for the FCTA’s 2025 Appropriation Bill, which totalled N1.7tn.
In the letter read on the Senate floor, the President explained the constitutional basis for presenting the proposal to lawmakers.
“Pursuant to Section 299 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, which vests legislative powers over the Federal Capital Territory on the National Assembly, I hereby present the 2025 FCT budget proposal to the Senate for consideration.
“The 2025 FCT Budget Proposal prioritises investment in health care services, job creation, youth empowerment, social welfare services, education infrastructure, as well as increasing productivity in agriculture,” his letter stated in part.
Tinubu further noted that the proposed spending plan was designed to stimulate socio-economic development within the capital territory and improve the welfare of residents.
According to him, the budget was designed to lift as many citizens as possible out of poverty.
The submission marks the beginning of the legislative process for the FCT’s appropriation, which will involve scrutiny by relevant committees of the National Assembly of Nigeria before final approval by both chambers.
Tinubu also urged the Senate to consider and approve Oyedele’s nomination as part of ongoing adjustments within the Federal Executive Council.
Until his nomination as minister, Oyedele, from Ikaram in Akoko, Ondo State, served as chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, where he spearheaded reforms aimed at overhauling Nigeria’s tax system.
Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert.
He spent 22 years of his working career at PwC, joining in 2001 and rising to become the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.
The President also sought the screening and subsequent confirmation of Abe as chairman of the NUPRC.
Also for confirmation by the Senate are Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna State, and Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director at the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources. Both were nominated as non-executive commissioners.
The letter was referred to the Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream for further legislative action.
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