Joint NASS Committee Faults Non-Release of Interior Ministry Capital Funds

By Oluwakemi Kindness

The Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives has expressed strong dissatisfaction over the non-release of capital funds allocated to the Federal Ministry of Interior, describing it as a major setback to project execution and institutional performance.

Speaking during the ministry’s budget defence in Abuja, Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, said it is unacceptable that the ministry’s 2024 and 2025 capital budgets had not been released.

Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, confirmed to lawmakers on Tuesday that the ministry recorded zero percent capital budget release for two consecutive years.

He noted that the absence of capital funding had stalled critical infrastructure projects across agencies under the ministry.

According to the minister, several approved projects remained unimplemented despite National Assembly approvals, due to the failure of releases from the executive arm.

He added that, despite the challenges, the ministry continued to remit its Internally Generated Revenue into the Consolidated Revenue Fund as required by law.

Members of the joint committee expressed concern over what they described as a recurring pattern of delayed releases to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), warning that such bottlenecks undermine government efficiency and weaken institutional capacity.

The lawmakers urged the ministry to prioritise key projects within existing approvals to avoid the growing trend of abandoned government projects nationwide.

Agencies that appeared for the budget defence included the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and the Federal Fire Service.

The development has renewed concerns about budget implementation gaps across the federal system and their impact on service delivery in critical security and internal administration sectors.