President Bola Tinubu has withheld assent to a recently passed billsfrom the National Assembly, warning that certain provisions could weaken fiscal discipline, conflict with existing laws, and create dangerous precedents in public finance management.
Tinubu in the letter on the bill seeking to establish the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology, said it was tainted with fundamental defects.
He said: “I convey to the senate, my decision to decline assent to the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology Bill 2025.
“The rationale for my decision is that the bill is tainted with fundamental defects.
“Section 18 of the bill expands the source of funding the National Transport Logistics Research to include one per cent of freight on every import and every export from Nigeria without their approval.
“In addition, the bill is tainted by the Federal Executive Council, and more so, when the Institute is to be funded by the Federal Government itself.
“Section 21, 2 empowers the institute to borrow by way of loan or overdraft without the consent of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, except where the amount to be borrowed is above N50 million.
“In the extant act, borrowing can be made with the approval of the President, the removal of the approval of the President has not been explained or justified.
“The provision could be abused as the incident could have been a major one, or a financial violation of its responsibility, this will amount to serious financial abuse,” he said.
On section 23, 4, on power to invest surplus funds, the President stated that since the institute is to be funded by the Federal Government and money appropriated by the government for any agency usually projected and accounted for, it is unlikely to have surpluses.
“The issue of investing surplus funds is usually applicable to agencies that have a surplus fund that is not funded by the federal government of Nigeria but generates revenue to spend.
“In addition, section 21 states that it is the surplus fund of the Institute that should be invested, while section 23 states that any of the institute’s funds could be invested.
“This can allow funds other than surpluses to be diverted for investment purposes, from original purposes.
“Section 18 requires money in the form to be applied toward promotion of the objectives and functions of the act,it does not include or recognise the investment of the funds of the institute.
“This seems contradictory to section 23, which proposes to allow the institute to put surplus funds.”
