Agencies’ Heads Shun Session as Akpabio Calls for Citizens’ Welfare Priority
The 2025 budget defence session for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) turned chaotic yesterday, with lawmakers engaging in heated disputes that led to Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi (APC, Ebonyi North) staging a dramatic walkout.
The joint committee session, intended to review the police budget and evaluate the Inspector-General’s funding requests, was disrupted when the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, presented details of the budget, including plans for constructing five zonal police headquarters.
During the session, Mark Esset, a House of Representatives member for Uyo/Uruan/Ibesikpo/Nsit Atai Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom, interrupted, questioning discrepancies between the IGP’s references and the documents provided to committee members. Senator Nwaebonyi demanded that the IGP submit a proper copy of the budget details. However, the committee chairman overruled his Point of Order and allowed the IGP to proceed, prompting Nwaebonyi to walk out amid verbal exchanges with other lawmakers.
In response, Yusuf Gagdi, a ranking lawmaker, expressed disappointment over the incident, emphasizing the need for adherence to parliamentary procedures and cautioning members against interjections without recognition.
The IGP highlighted the police force’s chronic underfunding and called for an end to the “envelope” budgeting system to ensure consistent and adequate funding. He noted President Bola Tinubu’s approval to increase the force’s annual recruitment quota from 10,000 to 30,000, aiming to improve the force’s efficiency.
Meanwhile, the joint committee on Agricultural Production and Services criticized the absence of several agency heads, including the Director-General of the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service, Dr. Vincent Isegbe, during the budget defence sessions. Senate Committee Chairman Saliu Mustapha and House counterpart Bello Kaoje expressed disappointment, warning of zero budget allocations for agencies whose leaders failed to appear.
Mustapha emphasized the urgency of addressing food security challenges, citing World Food Programme (WFP) projections that 33.1 million Nigerians could face acute hunger in 2025. He ordered Dr. Isegbe to appear by January 20 to defend the agency’s budget.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, in his opening remarks at the Stakeholders’ Public Hearing on the 2025 Appropriation Bill, stressed that the N49.74 trillion budget must prioritize citizens’ welfare. He urged lawmakers to focus on investing public funds in initiatives that promote the welfare and prosperity of Nigerians.
The budget proposal allocates N4.91 trillion to Defence, N4.06 trillion to Infrastructure, N3.52 trillion to Education, and N2.48 trillion to Health.
