The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, begged for a closed-door session over questioning by lawmakers during the 2025 budget defence sessions.

Edun was bombarded with questions from Senators, particularly regarding the proceeds from fuel subsidy removal.

The Minister was visibly unsettled by the barrage of questions and pleaded for a closed-door session to provide detailed explanations.

The request comes after Senator Abdul Ningi asked Edun to explain how the proceeds from fuel subsidy removal were expended in the 2024 fiscal year.

Ningi asked, “What is the budget performance achieved so far, for the 2024 fiscal year, particularly in terms of capital expenditure.

“We haven’t heard from the Minister how much has been saved from the removal of fuel subsidy and how much has been expended.

“We also haven’t heard from the Ministers about the debt servicing. How much have we actually used to service our debt in 2004?

How much are we expecting to service the debt in 2005? Finally, will the Minister of Finance guarantee that the extension of the capital component of the 2024 budget to June 30, 202,5 will give the desired results in terms of implementation that has a very low percentage now?”

Following that, Edun said, “Are we in a closed-door session? If we are not in a closed-door session, I will humbly seek for that for detailed explanations on the questions asked.”

Edun’s request for a closed-door session was granted by the Committee Chairman, Senator Olamilekan Adeola who asked journalists to refuse themselves.

Meanwhile, the Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, and his counterpart in the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali Mohammed Ali, faced tough questioning from the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation.

The NOA DG was ordered to re-draft and re-present the agency’s budgetary proposals for 2025, while the NAN DG was asked to reconcile discrepancies in the 2024 budget implementation.