Proceedings in the house of representatives turned rowdy on Wednesday as legislators disagreed over a motion seeking to summon President Bola Tinubu.
During plenary, Benedict Etanabene, the lawmaker representing Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie federal constituency in Delta state, raised a point of privilege to draw the attention of the house to a June 29 circular issued by Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, the accountant-general of the federation.
In the memo, Ogunjimi directed all federal ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to immediately stop processing payments for constituency and zonal intervention projects (ZIPs) unless they have been formally vetted by the ministry of special duties and intergovernmental affairs.
Etanabene urged the house to summon the president to address lawmakers on the delay in implementing the 2025 budget, adding that the circular would further hamper the execution of the Appropriation Act.
Etanabene noted that the issue was not new, recalling that the house had previously invited the accountant-general, ministers, and other officials to address budget implementation delays without any meaningful resolution.
Describing the situation as unacceptable, he argued that lawmakers could no longer explain to their constituents why projects approved in the budget had yet to commence.
“The budgets are not being implemented presently in Nigeria today. We are implementing the 2024, 2025 and 2026 budgets concurrently. This is not in the best interest of everybody,” he said.
“I wish to move the motion that this house invite Mr president to come in the soonest to brief this house and explain the need for this circular.”
The motion divided the house, with most lawmakers supporting it and others protesting against it.
The commotion threw the chamber into a rowdy session, with Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, taking several minutes to restore calm.
The presiding officer said motions raised on a point of privilege are not subject to debate.
Following that, Alex Mascot, a lawmaker from Abia, moved a motion on urgent public importance, saying that security agencies were not being adequately funded despite the federal government spending billions of naira.
He said Tinubu should be invited to address lawmakers over the budget implementation fiasco.
The motion was greeted with shouts of approval from many lawmakers.
However, Yusuf Gagdi, chairman of the house committee on navy, opposed the motion, saying it was more appropriate for parliament to invite officials delegated with responsibility for budget implementation.
Several lawmakers interrupted him, asking him to sit down.
Abbas then called for a division to allow lawmakers to vote on the motion, but the proposal was rejected.
The speaker subsequently referred the motion to an ad hoc committee to be constituted by the house.
Moments later, Mascot rose on a point of order, arguing that his prayers did not include the constitution of an ad hoc committee.
He was rebuked by Abbas, who described his conduct as “completely unparliamentary” and “an act of dishonour”, saying the lawmaker departed from the version of the motion submitted before the start of plenary.
“It is a complete deviation from the copy you gave me,” the speaker said.
Background
Since 2025, local contractors have been protesting the debt backlog for projects executed for the federal government.
The protesters, under the aegis of the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN), blocked the gates of the ministry of finance and the national assembly complex to press home their demands.
In December 2025, Tinubu set up a multi-ministerial committee to resolve the saga, with outstanding payments at about N1.5 trillion.
In January, the federal government said it had commenced disbursing funds to contractors for “verified contracts”.
Federal lawmakers had lamented that the slow implementation of the budget was stalling the execution of constituency projects.
