By peterside Rejoice
The Senate Committee on Special Duties has rejected the 2026 budget estimates of the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, raising serious concerns over poor funding releases and the omission of allocation for the National Honours programme.
The rejection followed a heated budget defence session at the National Assembly, chaired by Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan (APC, Borno Central), during which lawmakers described the ministry’s financial situation as disturbing and unacceptable.
Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Zephaniah Bitrus Jisalo, had presented the ministry’s 2026 proposal when senators began questioning the pattern of releases in the 2025 fiscal year.
Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) expressed dismay that out of the N5.2 billion appropriated for the ministry in 2025, only N1.8 billion was released.
He questioned whether the ministry was established merely to pay salaries, arguing that such limited releases crippled its capacity to execute statutory responsibilities.
“Here we have a Federal Ministry of Special Duties that in 2025 had a total budget of N5.2 billion, and only N1.8 billion was released. Is this ministry only meant to pay salaries? Don’t they have work to do?” Ningi queried.
He further lamented what he described as bureaucratic bottlenecks weakening the ministry, adding that some local government councils operate with larger budgets than the federal ministry.
Committee Chairman, Senator Lawan, also questioned whether the Federal Executive Council truly considered the ministry a strategic national institution, given what he described as consistent underfunding and poor capital releases.
The committee’s strongest objection, however, centred on the exclusion of funding for the National Honours programme in the 2026 estimates, despite presidential approval for a new batch of awardees.
Senator Mohammed Onawo (PDP, Nasarawa South) described the omission as embarrassing and unacceptable, stressing that the National Honours is a statutory responsibility of the ministry and should not be treated as an afterthought.
Lawmakers were further alarmed when the minister disclosed that of the N240 million released for capital expenditure in 2025, the ministry recorded zero expenditure, zero balance and zero execution.
Responding to the concerns, Minister Jisalo acknowledged the funding shortfall and admitted that the ministry lacked adequate resources to produce medals and organise the National Honours investiture ceremony. He appealed for the committee’s intervention to ensure that the necessary allocation is captured in the revised 2026 budget.
After deliberations, the committee ruled that the 2026 budget proposal was incomplete due to the omission of the presidential list of awardees and the absence of a clear provision for the National Honours programme.
Senator Lawan directed the minister to liaise with the Budget Office of the Federation to ensure that the required allocation is properly reflected in the revised submission.
He warned that failure to comply by Monday would compel the Senate to summon officials of the Budget Office under its constitutional oversight powers.
The committee subsequently stepped down consideration of the ministry’s 2026 estimates pending resubmission with the necessary corrections.
About Author
