Tension over the 2026 budget stalled proceedings at the House of Representatives on Tuesday as lawmakers abruptly adjourned plenary without considering a single item on the day?s Order Paper.

It was an unusual development, last witnessed only when the chamber suspended sittings in honour of a deceased member.

Lawmakers exchanged heated words in the closed-door session that preceded the adjournment, fuelling speculation of growing division within the House over the handling of the budget process.

The House reconvenes today to resume legislative business, with the loan request expected to feature prominently.

Tuesday?s Order Paper contained 30 bills for the first reading, 16 reports for consideration, eight bills for second reading, and six motions slated for consideration and possible adoption.

Proceedings commenced with the arrival of Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and other principal officers, after which the lawmakers went into a closed-door executive session that lasted for about an hour.

Although no official explanation was provided, sources within the chamber suggested that the session centred on the expiration of the one-week ultimatum issued to the Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning as well as the Accountant General of the Federation, to clear outstanding debts owed to indigenous contractors.

Emerging from the closed-door session, the chamber became tense when Ifeanyi Uzokwe from Anambra State repeatedly sought recognition to raise a point of order. His attempts were ignored by the Speaker, who, instead, proceeded to make announcements, including a notice of an emergency meeting of the South West caucus.

Undeterred, Uzokwe persisted, prompting the Speaker to direct him to approach the chair privately. Moments later, the House Leader, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, moved a motion for adjournment, which was adopted, bringing the session to a close.

The PUNCH reliably gathered that President Bola Tinubu had anticipated that the House of Representatives would on Tuesday approve his administration?s request to borrow N1.15 trillion to fund the 2025 budget deficit.

However, that expectation was dashed as lawmakers, aggrieved over issues reportedly relating to their own welfare and constituency funding, refused to consider the request.

President Tinubu had, in a letter to the House leadership last week, sought parliamentary approval for the borrowing plan.

The letter, read by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, stated that the N1.15tn facility was essential to bridge the funding gap in the 2025 fiscal plan.

Titled ?Request for the Approval of the National Assembly for a Borrowing Programme to Fund the 2025 Budget Deficit,? the correspondence had earlier been presented on the floor of the Senate by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

The letter read in part, ?I write to kindly request the approval of the National Assembly to establish a N1.15tn borrowing programme in the domestic debt market to close the unfunded deficit gap created by the increase in the budget size, over and above the prior approved revenue and borrowing plans.

?This request is pursuant to the provisions of Section 44(1-2) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, which requires the approval of the National Assembly for all new borrowings by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

?The Right Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives may wish to note that the National Assembly passed a budget of N59.99tn, an increase of N5.25tn from the 49.74tn budget proposed by the executive. This increase created a budget deficit of N14.10tn.?

At Tuesday?s plenary, members expressed disgust at the Federal Government?s failure to release funds to execute the capital components of the 2024 and 2025 budgets following the one-week deadline it gave last week.

Before plenary began, Ismaila Dabo, the lawmaker representing Toro Federal Constituency in Bauchi State, shared a troubling reflection on the state of the members via the House?s WhatsApp group.

Titled ?My concern and the sad reality about the 10th National Assembly?, Dabo drew his colleagues? attention to several issues and called for quick fixes to address them.

He wrote, ?When we began the 10th Assembly, the National Assembly budget was less than N160bn. However, in 2024 and 2025, it has increased by more than 100%, now standing at approximately N360bn. This consistent increase has been made in the name of Honourable Members. Unfortunately, the reality today is deeply troubling.?

He added, ?The majority of members cannot afford to pay their rents, many members are unable to travel to their constituencies, and several members are facing serious challenges with their banks due to defaults in loan repayments.?

He also noted that ?local moneylenders are pursuing members over unpaid debts.?

Dabo added, ?Numerous members are facing financial crises that have resulted in litigation. Sadly, members have been reduced to beggars in town, a very embarrassing situation.?

He faulted the multiplicity of committees under Speaker Abbas?s leadership, noting that the development is largely to blame for the poor oversight of the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government.

?The proliferation of too many committees has weakened our relevance before government ministries, departments, and agencies. We have become ineffective in discharging our constitutional responsibilities.

?More than five different committees are sometimes assigned to oversee a single ministry or agency, all requesting the same information and inviting the same officials over the same issues. As a result, these agencies have stopped taking the National Assembly seriously. They delay responses, ignore correspondence, and often refuse to appear when invited,? he lamented.

He further expressed displeasure over the wide gap in budgetary allocation between members and Principal Officers of the Green Chamber.

?The disparity between ordinary members and Principal Officers in terms of budgetary allocation is alarming and dangerous. This inequality has exposed many members to political risks. Imagine a situation where your colleague, a Principal Officer, is executing projects worth over N50bn in your state, while you, as a member, are struggling with a project portfolio of less than N1.1bn, which is not even funded. Such an imbalance is unsustainable and unfair,? he stated.

He therefore proposed immediate financial adjustment, saying, ?The leadership should make necessary sacrifices by collapsing some budgetary provisions and increasing members? monthly allowances from N12.5m to N30m. This is achievable, and we can substantiate the feasibility if required.?

The Bauchi lawmaker also called for a re-organisation of the committees and called on the leadership to set up a Review Committee to ?rationalise and reduce the number of standing committees to a more effective and manageable size.?

The lawmaker also urged the leadership to ensure ?a more balanced budgetary provision for members to close the existing wide gap between them and Principal Officers.?

Driving home his argument, he stated, ?Our dignity, relevance, and effectiveness as lawmakers are being eroded. If these issues are not urgently addressed, the 10th Assembly risks becoming the weakest in Nigeria?s democratic history. We must act now for our integrity, for the institution, and for the people we represent.

?I therefore implore all Honourable members to carefully study these issues and deliberate on them with utmost sincerity and commitment, so that together we can restore the honour, strength, and effectiveness of the National Assembly.?

Another House member with knowledge of the matter, told The PUNCH that House spokesman Akin Rotimi, who is the Admin of the WhatsApp group, deleted Dabo?s post.

?But it still found its way to other House platforms,? the lawmaker said.

In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, the lawmaker, who is from the North Central, added, ?Dabo?s brilliant perspective was discussed at the closed-door session alongside the Speaker?s meeting with the President.

?In that meeting, the President gave assurances to fund the remaining 2024 budget and 50 per cent of the 2025 budget. He, however, stated that there was no money because revenue increases are going into debt servicing.

?The President wanted us to approve the loan request today (Tuesday), but we couldn?t achieve that. So, the Presidency would be disappointed with the outcome of today?s sitting. He (President) needed the House to approve the N1.15tn domestic borrowing request to enable him to fund the gaps, but that did not happen.?

Following Dabo?s post, the legislator said the Speaker was quick to declare that the leadership of the House, under his watch, had never siphoned the House budgetary allocation despite the increases.

?The Speaker invited the Chairman, Committee on House Services, Hon Amos Daniel, to give an account of the budget increase in the 2024 budget of N120bn and told members that the increase was used for capital projects, including car parks, National Assembly hospital, National Assembly recreation centre, settlement of official cars, among others.?

Another lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that members frowned on the purchase of standing fans and dustbins from the N120bn.

The Reps member from the South-East stated, ?It could have been used to improve members? running costs in the face of their precarious financial situation.?

Attempts to obtain the House?s official stance on the matter through its spokesman, Akin Rotimi, proved unsuccessful, as he didn?t pick up his calls or reply to the message sent to his WhatsApp as of the time of filing this report.

Similarly, the message sent to Hon. Amos Daniel went unresponded to. (PUNCH)

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