The house of representatives has approved the 2025-2027
medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) and fiscal strategy paper (FSP) of the
federal government.
At a plenary session on Wednesday, the parliament passed the
oil benchmark prices of $75, $76.2, and $75.3 for the daily crude oil
production of 2.06 million, 2.10 million, and 2.35 million for the 2025-2027
fiscal years respectively.
On November 19, President Bola Tinubu forwarded the MTEF and
the FSP to the national assembly for consideration and approval.
The joint committee of the senate and house of
representatives held a hearing on the MTEF/FSP parameters on November 25.
During Wednesday’s plenary, the green chamber maintained the
gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate projected at 4.6 percent, 4.4 percent,
and 5.5 percent for the three years in the fiscal strategy paper.
The lower house endorsed the projected exchange rate of
NGN1,400/$ but said it is subject to review in early 2025 according to monetary
and fiscal policies.
The lower legislative chamber also maintained new borrowings
at N9.22 trillion.
The legislators approved the federal government’s projected
inflation rates of 15.75 percent, 14.21 percent, and 10.04 percent for 2025 to
2027.
The green chamber did not make any adjustments to the
assumptions of the federal government in the MTEF document.
The house also resolved to investigate the report of the
revenue mobilisation, allocation, and fiscal responsibility commission (RMAFC)
alleging that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited withheld
N8.48 trillion as claimed subsidies for petrol.
“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,” the house report reads.
The house 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 green chamber asked the committees on finance and
customs to investigate the operations of the 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”.
The parliament said the probe should evaluate compliance,
identify systemic, gaps and recommend measures to enhance transparency and
accountability and optimise revenue generation for the country.
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