National Assembly passes revised N43.5tn 2024 and N48.3tn 2025 budgets, extending 2025 fiscal year to March 2026 to improve capital execution and fiscal discipline

The National Assembly has approved a revised N43.5 trillion 2024 Appropriation Act and a reworked N48.3 trillion 2025 budget framework, with the 2025 fiscal year extended to March 31, 2026, in a move aimed at correcting revenue shortfalls, weak capital execution, and overlapping budget cycles.

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The passage followed marathon plenary sessions in both chambers after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu transmitted the bills to the legislature last Friday.

At the Senate, the revised budgets were approved following the adoption of a consolidated report by the Committee on Appropriations, presented by Senator Solomon Adeola (Ogun West).

The exercise was intended to align Nigeria’s budget architecture with current fiscal realities, address implementation gaps, and restore discipline to the budgeting process.

Adeola explained that the 2024 Appropriation Act, originally N35.005tn, was repealed and re-enacted at N43.561tn, with allocations covering statutory transfers, debt servicing, recurrent, and capital expenditures.

For the 2025 fiscal year, the earlier N54.99tn budget was revised to N48.316tn, with part of the capital expenditure rolled over into 2026 due to funding constraints.

He noted that N8.5tn was added to the 2024 capital budget to fund special interventions in security, humanitarian, and economic emergencies, while N6.674tn was deferred from 2025 to 2026 to enhance budget effectiveness.

Adeola warned against concurrent budget cycles, stressing that overlapping budgets undermine fiscal discipline, transparency, and accountability.

The House of Representatives also passed the revised budgets after considering the report of its Committee on Appropriations.

The revised 2024 budget includes N1.74tn for statutory transfers, N8.27tn for debt servicing, N11.26tn for recurrent expenditure, and N22.27tn for capital expenditure.

The 2025 budget provides N3.64tn for statutory transfers, N14.31tn for debt service, N13.58tn for recurrent expenditure, and N16.76tn for capital expenditure.

President Tinubu explained that the revisions were necessary to accommodate previously omitted items and adjust capital implementation targets in line with Nigeria’s execution capacity and revenue realities.

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He said the revised framework targets 30% capital implementation and allows MDAs adequate time to utilise allocations, forming part of a broader fiscal reform agenda to end overlapping budgets and improve planning, coordination, and accountability.