The National Assembly has approved revised budgets for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years and extended the implementation of the 2025 budget to March 31, 2026.
The decision was taken on Tuesday after plenary sessions in both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Abuja.
Lawmakers approved a revised N43.5 trillion 2024 Appropriation Act and a reworked N48.3 trillion 2025 budget framework following the passage of the Appropriation Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bills forwarded by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last Friday.
At the Senate, the approval followed the adoption of a consolidated report by the Committee on Appropriations, presented by its chairman, Senator Solomon Adeola (Ogun West). The committee said the revisions were necessary to address revenue shortfalls, weak capital budget implementation, and overlapping budget cycles.
According to Adeola, the original N35.005 trillion 2024 budget was repealed and replaced with N43.561 trillion, while the earlier N54.99 trillion 2025 budget was reduced to N48.316 trillion. He explained that parts of the 2025 capital budget were deferred to 2026 due to funding constraints and revenue performance concerns.
Adeola said an additional N8.5 trillion was added to the 2024 capital component to fund special interventions related to security, humanitarian needs, and economic challenges. He also disclosed that N6.674 trillion was removed from the 2025 capital allocation and shifted to the 2026 fiscal year.
He warned that running multiple budgets at the same time weakens fiscal discipline and accountability, adding that extending the 2025 budget lifespan would help improve implementation.
The House of Representatives also passed the revised budgets after adopting the report of its Committee on Appropriations during plenary presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
A breakdown of the revised 2024 budget shows N1.74 trillion for statutory transfers, N8.27 trillion for debt servicing, N11.26 trillion for recurrent expenditure, and N22.27 trillion for capital expenditure. The 2025 budget provides N3.64 trillion for statutory transfers, N14.31 trillion for debt service, N13.58 trillion for recurrent expenditure, and N16.76 trillion for capital projects.
In his communication to the National Assembly, President Tinubu stated that the revisions were aimed at correcting weaknesses in budget implementation and establishing a more realistic capital execution benchmark of 30 percent.
He noted that extending the 2025 budget to March 31, 2026, would give Ministries, Departments, and Agencies more time to access and utilise released funds, while also addressing the long-standing issue of overlapping budgets in Nigeria’s fiscal system.