By Christiana Ekpa
The House of Representatives Committee on Science and Engineering has threatened to expunge the 2026 budget proposal of the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) from the national appropriation bill and recommend the removal of its Director-General, Dr. Olushola Odusanya, over his failure to appear for budget defence.
The committee stepped down consideration of the agency’s 2026 budget during a session held Thursday in Abuja, citing the DG’s absence and failure to submit required documents for legislative scrutiny.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Inuwa Garba (PDP, Gombe), described the development as unacceptable, stressing that no government appointee should consider themselves too important to honour an invitation from the National Assembly.
“If Mr. President can personally present the national budget before the legislature, no appointee has any excuse not to appear before a committee of the House,” Garba said.
He warned that the panel would not tolerate any action perceived as disrespectful to the Constitution, the Legislature, or democratic governance, noting that the decision to recommend zero allocation and the DG’s removal would serve as a deterrent to other public officials.
Meanwhile, the committee also raised concerns over the performance and 2026 budget proposal of the Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology (NiCFOST).
Lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction with the agency’s low Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which stood at about N385,000 in 2024 and dropped to N285,860 in 2025.
The panel further queried the sharp rise in the council’s overhead costs—from N95.40 million in 2025 to N195.73 million in the 2026 proposal.
Responding, NiCFOST Registrar, Mrs. Veronica Nkechi-Eze, explained that the council’s revenue is derived solely from registration fees and annual professional dues. According to her, the agency charges N5,000 for registration and N2,000 as annual dues from its roughly 10,000 members.
However, she admitted she could not explain the significant increase in the overhead allocation, stating that the figure was not part of the original proposal submitted to the Budget Office
