The National Assembly on Tuesday approved an extension for the execution of the capital component of the 2025 Appropriation Act, moving the deadline from September 30 to December 31, 2026.
This marks the fourth time lawmakers have prolonged the lifespan of the 2025 capital budget.
At the Senate, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the extension was necessary to provide ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) with sufficient time to complete capital projects for which funds had already been appropriated and released.
According to him, several factors, including procurement procedures, contract execution, mobilisation, certification of completed works and payment processes, could affect the timely implementation of capital projects.
He said the amendment would provide “the necessary legal and administrative window” required for the completion of ongoing projects.
Bamidele warned that allowing the existing deadline to expire without an extension could create administrative and legal difficulties for MDAs while increasing the possibility of projects being abandoned or left incomplete.
He also dismissed concerns that the extension could weaken accountability or legislative oversight, insisting that the measure remained subject to existing fiscal and legislative controls.
The Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, backed the extension, describing it as an important measure to prevent the proliferation of abandoned projects across the country.
The Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro, also supported the extension but cautioned his colleagues against turning the debate into an avenue for political blame.
The House of Representatives also extended the implementation of the capital component of the 2025 Appropriation Act for the fourth time, moving the deadline from September 30 to December 31, 2026.
The extension was approved during Tuesday’s plenary following a motion moved by the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere.
Leading debate on the bill, the House Leader said several factors affecting the Nigerian economy had made it difficult to complete implementation of the capital component of the 2025 budget within the existing timeframe.
He said the extension was necessary to provide adequate time for the implementation of the projects and programmes captured under the capital component of the budget.
Timeline for extensions
Daily Trust reports that the National Assembly first extended the implementation period in December 2025, moving the deadline to March 31, 2026.
The fourth extension comes a day before the expiration of the latest deadline.
With Tuesday’s decision, Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government will have an additional three months to implement projects and utilise funds appropriated under the 2025 capital budget.
The repeated extensions have allowed the implementation of the 2025 capital budget to continue alongside the 2026 budget.
Extending 2025 budget shows gross fiscal indiscipline – Expert
Economist Dr. Marcel Okeke has described the budget extension as a “gross fiscal indiscipline,” warning that such a practice distorts the purpose of annual appropriation laws and weakens public accountability.
Okeke said while the decision to ensure that capital expenditure contained in the budget is eventually implemented might appear, on the surface, to demonstrate a determination to complete government projects, carrying budgetary provisions from one year into another raises serious fiscal and governance concerns.
According to him, an Appropriation Act is a law designed to govern government spending within a specified financial year.
He argued that repeatedly altering the timing of budget implementation or moving portions of an appropriation from one year to another amounts to a distortion of the law, particularly because each Appropriation Act is intended to cover a one-year period.
The economist also expressed concern that carrying projects and allocations from previous budgets into subsequent years could make effective monitoring more difficult especially as the nation is in an election year.
He explained that projects approved and budgeted for a particular year are expected to be monitored within the framework of that year’s budget.
When such projects are repeatedly carried forward, he said, they may not receive the level of monitoring and scrutiny ordinarily expected under the current appropriation.
Okeke further lamented what he described as inadequate public reporting on budget implementation. He recalled that in previous administrations, finance officials regularly provided detailed budget breakdowns and periodic updates on implementation.
He questioned the absence of regular quarterly or half-yearly updates on the execution of the budget, saying greater transparency would enable citizens and other stakeholders to assess government performance.
Lawyers raise legal, accountability concerns over 2025 budget extension
A human rights lawyer, Udochukwu Onoh, said the recurring extensions reflected a wider problem with Nigeria’s budget process, particularly delays in passing and assenting to appropriation bills.
“Every budget is intended to be expended within the same year. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, it takes us longer to deliberate on budget approval and presidential assent,” Onoh said.
Onoh also raised concerns over the treatment of unspent appropriations, stressing that government agencies should properly account for funds before another budget cycle takes effect.
According to him, where implementation of a budget extends into another fiscal year, the relevant agencies must ensure that all expenditure is properly retired and accounted for.
Another lawyer, Victoria Adaji, described the repeated extension of the 2025 capital budget as a significant challenge to Nigeria’s public finance management framework.
She said the legal implications became more pronounced where the extended 2025 capital budget operates alongside an already signed 2026 Appropriation Act and preparations for the 2027 fiscal year.
“The legal implications of the National Assembly extending the 2025 budget’s capital component for a fourth time to December 31, 2026, while overlapping with a signed 2026 budget and staring down 2027 fiscal discussions, represent a structural breakdown in Nigeria’s public finance management,” Adaji said.
The Country Director of Accountability Lab Nigeria, Friday Odeh, also criticised the fourth extension, saying it could weaken the legal force of the Appropriation Act and make public expenditure more difficult to monitor.
He also argued that repeated extensions could conceal deeper problems in revenue generation and the ability of government agencies to execute capital projects.
“Repeated extensions disguise chronic revenue deficits and poor capital absorptive capacity as mere procurement delays,” he said.
Odeh further alleged that continually extending implementation timelines could affect cash-flow management and borrowing requirements, with potential consequences for inflation.
He also criticised the National Assembly’s handling of the extensions, arguing that lawmakers should use their constitutional oversight powers to enforce greater fiscal discipline.
He proposed measures to strengthen accountability, including project-level audits of items covered by the extension and stricter conditions for future extensions.
What You Should Know
The National Assembly has granted federal ministries, departments, and agencies additional time to spend and execute funds allocated for infrastructure and development projects under the 2025 budget, extending the operational window to the end of December 2026.
- Positive Impact: Ongoing public infrastructure projects such as roads, schools, and hospitals will not face abrupt shutdowns or contract abandonment, allowing contractors to complete essential public works.
- Potential Concerns: Economic and legal experts warn that repeatedly rolling previous budgets into new fiscal years disrupts public finance discipline, blurs financial transparency, and makes it harder for citizens to hold government agencies accountable for unspent public funds.
Credit to our media partner DailyTrust.
