Tinubu seeks annulment, extension of 2024, 2025 budgets
President Bola Tinubu has requested the House of Representatives to repeal and re-establish the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts, as well as to prolong the execution of the 2025 budget until 31 March 2026.
This request was included in a letter from the President that was presented in the House by Speaker Rt Honourable Abbas Tajudeen on Friday.
The announcement comes just before President Tinubu is scheduled to present the 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly later today.
In his letter, the President detailed that the suggested bills aim to annul the 2024 Appropriation Act, initially estimated at N35.06 trillion, and replace it with a revised total expenditure of N43.56 trillion.
He noted that the amended 2024 budget allocates N1.74 trillion for statutory transfers, N8.27 trillion for debt servicing, N11.27 trillion for recurrent expenses, and N22.28 trillion for capital initiatives, with its execution continuing until 31 December 2025.
Additionally, President Tinubu recommended reducing the 2025 Appropriation Act from N54.99 trillion to N48.32 trillion, while extending its implementation timeframe to 31 March 2026.
He explained that “This is part of a broader fiscal reform measure aimed at eliminating the overlap of multiple concurrently running budgets, thereby strengthening planning, execution, and accountability across government expenditure cycles.”
The President went on to clarify that the proposed bills would accommodate expenditure items not included before and would introduce a new capital implementation benchmark set at 30 percent.
He stated that extending the 2025 budget would facilitate the complete allocation of the 30 percent capital distribution to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, thus enhancing project execution and overall budget performance.
Tinubu emphasized that these measures are part of a larger fiscal reform agenda designed to eliminate the practice of concurrent budgets, which he claimed undermines planning, implementation, and accountability in public finance management.
In June, the Senate sanctioned a second extension for the execution period of the 2024 capital aspect of the national budget, moving the cutoff date from 30 June 2025 to 31 December 2025.
This extension aimed to enable the comprehensive execution of capital projects financed under the 2024 Appropriation Act.
The January-to-December budget implementation cycle, considered crucial for maintaining fiscal discipline, was instituted during the administration of the 9th National Assembly.
On 18 December 2024, the National Assembly approved an earlier prolongation of the 2024 budget's lifespan to June 2025.
Recently, the Federal Government instructed Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to carry over 70 percent of their allocated capital from the 2025 budget into the 2026 fiscal year.
A circular disseminated by the Budget Ministry to senior government officials indicated that the 2026 budget proposals must predominantly comprise funds already designated in the 2025 budget.
The circular also stipulated that no new capital projects would be allowed under this directive.
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