Waves of dismay trailed the 2026 budget defence of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development on Monday, as Senators expressed shock over the dismal release of funds for the 2025 capital component less than one percent describing it as “very, very disheartening” and “embarrassing”.

The concerns were raised during a session of the Senate Committee on Appropriations held at the Senate New Building on Monday presided over by Tahir Monguno, Deputy Chairman of the Committee.

The presentation was delivered by Ireti Kingibe, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development.

Kingibe Presents 2026 Budget Proposal, expresses Poor 2025 Performance

Presenting the report of her Committee on the 2026 budget proposal and the 2025 Repeal and Enactment Appropriation Act of the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development, Senator Kingibe detailed the Ministry’s funding performance for the outgoing fiscal year.

According to her report, the 2025 budget performance of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs showed:

Personnel: ₦2,060,020,282 (₦1,989,669,336.63 released)

Overhead: ₦2,810,959,737 (₦471,548,342.50 released)

Capital: ₦89,865,454,436 (₦394,854,189.40 released)

The capital release, amounting to less than one percent of the total allocation, drew immediate criticism from members of the Appropriations Committee.

Senator Kingibe also conveyed the request of the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs for an upward review of the ₦134 billion earmarked for the Ministry in the 2026 fiscal year.

The Minister argued that increased funding would enable the Ministry to address the multifaceted challenges confronting women nationwide.

The budget hearing session, held on February 16, 2026, had in attendance officials from the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development.

Monguno: “Very, Very, Very Poor”

Responding, Senator Monguno commended Kingibe for what he described as a “very well-presented and articulated report,” but did not hide his disappointment over the funding realities.

“It is very, very disheartening that as per your report less than 1% of the capital component of the 2025 budget was released to the Ministry. That is very, very, very poor,” he said.

He stressed that such treatment “shouldn’t be so,” especially for a Ministry critical to the development of women and children, whom he described as “the bedrock of any society.”

Monguno assured the Committee would engage the Minister of Finance and the Accountant-General of the Federation to determine why such a minimal amount was released for capital projects.

On the ₦134 billion proposed for 2026, he acknowledged the request for an upward review and pledged that the Committee would examine it within the “vertical and horizontal variables” of the national budget to determine possible adjustments to enhance the Ministry’s effectiveness.

Adding his voice, Kamorudeen Olalere Oyewumi, Senate Deputy Minority Leader, questioned the logic of increasing allocations when releases remain abysmally low.

“Looking at the performance of 2025, where only about 300 million Naira not even up to 1% of the capital was released, I think we should be more concerned about the release than the increment,” he said.

“If you increase it to 200 billion Naira and they only release 300 million Naira, it doesn’t make any sense.”

He urged the Committee to interrogate the reasons behind the poor releases when meeting with the Minister of Finance, emphasizing that women affairs is central to national development.

“If you neglect the women, you are neglecting the nation,” Oyewumi declared, insisting that appropriated funds must be fully released to achieve meaningful impact.

Plang: “Very, Very Embarrassing”

Also contributing, Diket Plang, who represents Plateau Central, described the situation as “very, very embarrassing,” particularly in light of women constituting more than half of Nigeria’s population.

“If we are saying we are representing the people, and more than 50% of the people are women, and we are giving them less than 1% release for capital, then we are not doing anything for the people,” he said.

Plang advocated not only summoning the Minister of Finance but also establishing a monitoring framework to track releases to critical sectors.

“If we don’t monitor, they will just tell us they don’t have money, while money is being released to other sectors that are not as critical as the women affairs,” he warned.

Senate Signals Tougher Oversight

In his closing remarks, Senator Monguno reiterated the Committee’s resolve to engage fiscal authorities over the funding discrepancies and to carefully consider the request for an upward review of the 2026 allocation.

The hearing underscored growing legislative concern over the gap between appropriations and actual releases particularly for sectors deemed socially critical. With the 2026 budget under review, Senators signaled that beyond headline figures, the true test of commitment to women’s development will lie in timely and adequate fund releases.

As deliberations continue, attention now shifts to the Ministry of Finance and the Accountant-General’s office to account for the stark funding shortfall that has triggered rare bipartisan outrage within the Red Chamber. (The Sun)