In a far-reaching effort to recalibrate Nigeria’s fiscal framework and address persistent revenue shortfalls, weak capital budget execution and the long-standing challenge of overlapping budget cycles, the National Assembly on Tuesday approved a revised ₦43.5 trillion 2024 Appropriation Act and a restructured ₦48.3 trillion 2025 budget, extending the implementation of the 2025 fiscal year to March 31, 2026.
The approvals followed marathon plenary sessions in both chambers of the legislature, culminating in the passage of the Appropriation Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bills for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years. The bills were transmitted to the National Assembly by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last Friday.
At the Senate, the revised budgets were adopted after the consideration of a consolidated report by the Committee on Appropriations, presented by its chairman, Senator Solomon Adeola (Ogun West). Lawmakers described the exercise as a necessary fiscal correction aimed at aligning Nigeria’s budget architecture with prevailing economic realities and restoring discipline to the public finance system.
Presenting the report, Adeola explained that the bills sought to repeal earlier budget provisions and replace them with revised estimates reflecting current revenue constraints, debt sustainability concerns and emerging national priorities.
He disclosed that the 2024 Appropriation Act was repealed from its original ₦35.005 trillion and re-enacted with a revised aggregate expenditure of ₦43.561 trillion, encompassing statutory transfers, debt servicing, recurrent expenditure and capital allocations.
On the 2025 fiscal year, Adeola said the earlier ₦54.99 trillion budget was repealed and replaced with a reduced total expenditure of ₦48.316 trillion, noting that a portion of the capital component had been deferred to the 2026 fiscal year due to funding constraints identified during the presidential budget presentation.
According to him, extensive consultations between the committee and the federal economic management team informed the decision to revise the budgets, particularly to address weaknesses in revenue performance, rising debt exposure and implementation capacity.
Highlighting key adjustments, Adeola revealed that an additional ₦8.5 trillion was injected into the capital component of the 2024 budget to fund special interventions responding to pressing security, humanitarian and economic challenges.
He added that for the 2025 budget, ₦6.674 trillion was removed from the capital allocation and rolled over to 2026 in anticipation of improved revenue inflows, with the aim of enhancing overall budget effectiveness.
Adeola cautioned against the continued practice of running multiple budgets concurrently, warning that extending the lifespan of one budget while another is already operational undermines fiscal discipline, transparency and accountability.
Based on these considerations, the committee recommended—and the Senate approved—the repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 Appropriation Act authorising total expenditure of ₦43.5 trillion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, alongside the revised ₦48.3 trillion framework for the 2025 fiscal year, with implementation extended to March 31, 2026. The bills were subsequently passed for third reading after exhaustive debate.
Similarly, the House of Representatives approved the revised ₦43.56 trillion 2024 budget and ₦48.31 trillion 2025 budget after adopting the report of its Committee on Appropriations. The passage followed clause-by-clause consideration at the Committee of Supply and final approval at plenary, presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas.
A breakdown of the revised 2024 budget shows allocations of ₦1.74 trillion for statutory transfers, ₦8.27 trillion for debt servicing, ₦11.26 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and ₦22.27 trillion for capital expenditure and development fund contributions for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025.
For the revised 2025 budget, ₦3.64 trillion is allocated to statutory transfers, ₦14.31 trillion to debt servicing, ₦13.58 trillion to recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and ₦16.76 trillion to capital expenditure through development fund contributions. As with the Senate version, the 2025 budget will run until March 31, 2026.
In his communication to the National Assembly, President Tinubu said the revisions were necessitated by the need to accommodate previously omitted budgetary items and to recalibrate capital implementation targets in line with Nigeria’s execution capacity and revenue realities.
The President noted that the revised framework adopts a more realistic 30 per cent capital implementation benchmark, acknowledging persistent weaknesses in the execution of the capital component of the 2024 budget, which he said undermined infrastructure delivery nationwide.
According to Tinubu, extending the lifespan of the 2025 budget would provide Ministries, Departments and Agencies sufficient time to access and effectively utilise the targeted capital releases.
He added that the approach forms part of a broader fiscal reform agenda aimed at correcting structural flaws in Nigeria’s budgeting process, particularly the long-standing issue of overlapping budgets.
Ending the practice, he stressed, would improve planning, enhance implementation efficiency and strengthen transparency and accountability in public expenditure, ultimately delivering better value for money for Nigerians.
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