In a significant overhaul of Nigeria’s fiscal structure, the National Assembly on Tuesday approved a revised N43.5 trillion 2024 Appropriation Act and a reworked N48.3 trillion budget framework for 2025, extending the lifespan of the 2025 fiscal year to March 31, 2026.
The move is aimed at addressing revenue shortfalls, weak capital execution and the long-standing challenge of overlapping budget cycles.
The approvals followed extended plenary sessions in both chambers, 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 legislature by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last Friday.
At the Senate, the revised budgets were adopted after lawmakers considered a consolidated report of the Committee on Appropriations, presented by its chairman, Senator Solomon Adeola of Ogun West. Lawmakers said the exercise was intended to realign Nigeria’s budgeting framework with prevailing fiscal realities, close implementation gaps and restore discipline to the budget process.
Presenting the report, Adeola explained that the bills sought to repeal earlier budget provisions and replace them with revised figures that reflect revenue constraints, debt sustainability concerns and evolving national priorities. He disclosed that the 2024 Appropriation Act was repealed from its original N35.005 trillion and re-enacted with an aggregate expenditure of N43.561 trillion, covering statutory transfers, debt servicing, recurrent spending and capital expenditure.
On the 2025 fiscal year, Adeola said the initial N54.99 trillion budget was repealed and replaced with a revised total expenditure of N48.316 trillion. He noted that part of the capital expenditure was rolled over into the 2026 fiscal year due to funding constraints identified during the presidential budget presentation.
According to him, extensive engagement between the committee and the economic management team shaped the decision to repeal and re-enact both budgets, particularly in response to concerns around revenue performance, rising debt exposure and implementation efficiency.
Adeola further revealed that an additional N8.5 trillion was injected into the capital component of the 2024 budget to fund special interventions addressing security, humanitarian and economic emergencies. He said the revised framework was designed to remain responsive to national needs while maintaining fiscal responsibility, especially in relation to debt-related spending.
For the 2025 budget, the committee deferred N6.674 trillion from capital allocations to the 2026 fiscal year, a decision taken to enhance budget effectiveness in anticipation of improved revenue inflows. Adeola warned that the continued practice of operating multiple budgets at the same time undermines transparency, accountability and fiscal discipline.
Based on its findings, the committee recommended approval of the repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 Appropriation Act to authorise total expenditure of N43.5 trillion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, alongside the revised N48.3 trillion framework for the 2025 fiscal year and the extension of its implementation to March 31, 2026. The Senate subsequently passed the bills after extensive debate.
The House of Representatives also approved the revised N43.56 trillion 2024 budget and the N48.31 trillion 2025 budget after adopting the report of its Committee on Appropriations. The passage followed clause-by-clause consideration of the estimates at the Committee of Supply and their approval at plenary presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
Under the revised 2024 budget, N1.74 trillion is allocated for statutory transfers, N8.27 trillion for debt servicing, N11.26 trillion for recurrent non-debt expenditure and N22.27 trillion for capital expenditure and development fund contributions, covering the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025.
For the revised 2025 budget, statutory transfers stand at N3.64 trillion, debt servicing at N14.31 trillion, recurrent non-debt expenditure at N13.58 trillion and capital expenditure through development fund contributions at N16.76 trillion. Like the Senate version, the 2025 budget is expected to run until March 31, 2026.
In his communication to the National Assembly, President Tinubu said the revisions were necessary to accommodate omitted budgetary items and recalibrate capital implementation targets in line with Nigeria’s execution capacity and revenue realities. He explained that the revised framework adopts a more realistic capital implementation benchmark of 30 per cent.
The president acknowledged persistent weaknesses in the implementation of the capital component of the 2024 budget, noting that the challenges had undermined infrastructure delivery and development projects nationwide. He said extending the 2025 budget timeline would give Ministries, Departments and Agencies enough time to access and utilise the targeted capital releases.
Tinubu described the approach as part of a broader fiscal reform agenda to correct structural flaws in Nigeria’s budgeting process, including the problem of overlapping budgets. He stressed that ending the practice of running multiple budgets simultaneously would improve planning, strengthen implementation and enhance transparency and accountability in public spending.
According to the president, the revised budget framework is designed to deliver more credible budget performance, improve coordination of government programmes and ensure better value for money for Nigerians.
What you should know
The National Assembly’s decision to repeal and re-enact the 2024 and 2025 budgets reflects growing concern over Nigeria’s weak revenue base, rising debt burden and poor capital project execution.
By revising expenditure figures and extending the 2025 fiscal year to March 2026, lawmakers and the executive aim to reduce overlapping budgets and improve implementation outcomes.
The reforms signal a shift toward more realistic capital spending targets, with a focus on fiscal discipline, transparency and better utilisation of public funds amid ongoing economic pressures.
