Business
Reps Berate Finance Minister For Poor Budget Release
The House of Representatives’ Committee on Science and
Technology says it is displeased with what it considered the poor
implementation of the 2012 budget.
Chairman of the committee, Mr Abiodun Akinlade, expressed
the displeasure when he led other members on an oversight function visit to the
National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) offices.
He said contrary to claims by the Ministry of Finance, only
35 per cent of the 2012 budget funds had so far been released.
The legislator said this had therefore made it difficult for
MDAs to execute their projects in the fiscal year.
He said the figure was contrary to the 50 per cent claimed
to have been released by the Ministry of Finance.
“The ministries are being shortchanged, and their funds have
not been released to them and this is October, less than two months to the end
of the year, and the releases have been less than 35 per cent.
He said Nigeria has money, based on the findings of the
House Committees on Finance and Appropriation.
The committee chairman said the danger in not releasing the
funds was that all sectors of the economy are affected when government as the
highest spender in Nigeria refuses to spend money.
He said the Ministry of Finance should be bold enough to
tell Nigerians what the problem was.
The House committee chairman said there was no need
therefore in considering a new budget when the current one had not been
implemented.
“The National Assembly believes that the Appropriation Act
is a law of the land which must be adhered to and be implemented.
“Before we can consider 2013 budget, we have to know the
performance of that of 2012 and that is why the House of Representatives
suspended plenary for us to go to the field and confirm the performance of the
budget.
“What we have been saying on the floor of the House is not
far from what we have seen on the field. The performance of the budget of
Science and Technology is less than 35 per cent,” he said.
Our correspondent reports that members of the committee
later on also expressed displeasure at the NASENI budget implementation.
They said over 70 per cent of the budget implementation was
not in line with 2012 budget.
But, after listening to the agency’s defence, the committee
allowed more time for it to tidy up its books for presentation before the
committee at a later date.
In his remarks, the agency’s acting Director-General said
the agency was devoted to attaining its set goals, saying all projects were in
line with the budget.
He said that there was no way funds would be released for a
project if it was not tied to the provisions of the budget.
Our correspondent reports that some of the agencies visited
by the committee were the Raw Materials Research and Development Council
(RMRDC) and the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN).
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
