Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) has queried the Federal Government over what she described as vague and unclear policies on private-sector funding contained in the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper.

The senator raised the concerns on Monday during an interactive session organised by the Senate Committee on Finance at the National Assembly, where the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, presented the Federal Government’s fiscal outlook.

Akpoti-Uduaghan reacted to the minister’s statement that the government plans to “mop up funds” to support the private sector, saying the explanation lacked clarity, particularly against the backdrop of rising taxes and prevailing economic hardship faced by Nigerians.

She asked the minister to clearly explain the source of the proposed funds, querying whether they would be derived from taxes, duties, levies, dormant accounts or other channels.

“Speaking to the closing part of your presentation, where you mentioned that the government is trying to mop up funds to support the private sector, I find that quite generic and bland.

“Kindly explain where these monies will be mopped from to support the private sector. Is it from taxes, duties, levies, dormant accounts and so on, because we have seen an outcry from the public regarding heavy taxation?” the senator said.

Akpoti-Uduaghan also sought clarification on how businesses would access the funds and the criteria that would be used to determine beneficiaries.

“How exactly will the private sector access these funds? Will it be through banks with heavy interest rates, or will they be grants? How will beneficiaries be selected from the private sector, and what are the criteria, terms or conditions for these loans or grants?” she asked.

The lawmaker further questioned whether the funds would be deployed to address critical infrastructure gaps affecting businesses across the country.

“Will these funds be used to provide the enabling environment and infrastructure necessary to support entrepreneurs — such as electricity, free internet access in public spaces, roads and others? Exactly what will these funds be used for, and how will the private sector access them?” she queried.

Responding, Edun said the Federal Government was considering the mobilisation of domestic savings as a strategy to support private-sector development, citing examples from countries such as South Korea, Singapore and China.

“The Koreas of this world, the Singapores of this world, the Chinas — they did it by mobilising their own savings. When they produce, they don’t consume everything; they put some back into productive savings,” the minister said.

He added that discussions were ongoing on the introduction of a national savings scheme, stressing that participation would be voluntary and not compulsory.

“It will be voluntary; it’s not taxation, it’s not compulsory. It’s giving people a chance to have unearned income at all levels. By that, we mobilise funds, even at the grassroots level, to complement development programmes that push resources down,” Edun said.

However, the minister did not provide specific details on the exact source of the funds, the modalities for accessing them or how they would be deployed to support the private sector.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s questions, observers say, reflect growing concerns within the Senate over the lack of clarity in key fiscal policy proposals as lawmakers intensify scrutiny of the MTEF ahead of consideration of the 2026 Federal Government budget.