November 02, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives Committee on Finance on Tuesday threatened to withhold funding to the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), in the 2022 budget due to disagreement over budget presentation.
Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Faleke who made the position of the House known at the budget defence of the Ministry of Finance and its agencies, said the NSIA has failed to present its budget to the Parliament for consideration since it was created.
Faleke said the Agency has continued to rely on its enabling law which states that the Board will approve its budget
“The agency is relying on its law, which says that its board shall approve its budget. I have told the agency that the law, whether made in error or rightly, is not superior to the Constitution”, he said, adding that “There will be no disbursement of funds from any of the consolidated accounts to that agency. That is the opinion of the committee.”
He said the House will instruct the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, and the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, not to release funding to the agency until it presents its budget.
At the commencement of the hearing, the office of the Accountant General and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission defended their budgets before the committee.
