House of Representatives has approved 2025-2027 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) and fiscal strategy paper (FSP) of the federal government.
Gatekeepers News reports that the lower house during a plenary session on Wednesday, passed the oil benchmark prices of $75, $76.2, and $75.3 for daily crude oil production of 2.06 million, 2.10 million, and 2.35 million for 2025-2027 fiscal years respectively.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu forwarded the MTEF and FSP to national assembly for consideration and approval on November 19.
The joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives held a hearing on MTEF/FSP parameters on November 25.
During today’s plenary, the house maintained the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate projected at 4.6 percent, 4.4 percent, and 5.5 percent for the three years in fiscal strategy paper.
Though it endorsed the projected exchange rate of NGN1,400/$, the house said it is subject to review in early 2025 according to monetary and fiscal policies.
Additionally, the lower chamber maintained that new borrowings isbat N9.22 trillion.
The House approved federal government’s projected inflation rates of 15.75 percent, 14.21 percent, and 10.04 percent for 2025 to 2027, but didn’t make any adjustments to the assumptions of federal government in the MTEF document.
It also resolved to investigate the report of revenue mobilisation, allocation, and fiscal responsibility commission (RMAFC) alleging that Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited withheld N8.48 trillion as claimed subsidies for petrol.
The House report added, “Additionally, the investigation will address the NEITI report stating that NNPC failed to remit $2 billion (N3.6 trillion) in taxes to the federal government.”
It mandated relevant committees to hold quarterly investigative hearings with the revenue-generating agencies to “track their compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act and punish those in clear contravention” of the law.
The house asked the committees on finance and customs to investigate operations of import duty exemption certificate (IDEC) programme, “focusing on the administration of import waivers and their impact on revenue losses by the ministry of finance and the Nigeria Customs Service.”
It added that the probe should evaluate compliance, identify systemic, gaps and recommend measures to enhance transparency and accountability and optimise revenue generation for the country.
