Nigeria’s House of Representatives has explained that the repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts are deliberate steps designed to restore fiscal clarity, improve transparency, and ultimately end the long-standing practice of running multiple overlapping budget cycles.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, the House’s Deputy Spokesperson, Philip Agbese, said the legislative action aligns Nigeria’s public finance framework with international best practices and responds directly to operational challenges that have weakened budget implementation over the years.
The explanation follows a request by President Bola Tinubu, who last week asked the House to repeal and re-enact the 2024 and 2025 budgets, while also seeking approval to extend the lifespan of the 2025 budget to March 31, 2026.
Why the re-enactment matters
According to Agbese, the move addresses a persistent problem in Nigeria’s fiscal management — the tendency for new budgets to commence while previous ones are still being implemented. This practice, he noted, often creates confusion around funding priorities, complicates oversight, and results in delayed or abandoned capital projects.
He explained that by repealing and re-enacting the two budgets, lawmakers are creating a cleaner fiscal slate that allows outstanding obligations to be properly funded and closed, rather than rolled over indefinitely.
“Basically, it is to align the nation’s budgeting system with global and international best practices. It is also to ensure transparency and accountability at all levels and to lessen the burden of oversight during implementation,” Agbese said.
He added that the re-enactment is intended to pave the way for a single, unified national budget cycle beginning after March 31, 2026 — a development he described as critical to seamless execution by the executive arm of government.
Ending overlapping budgets
Agbese stressed that operating multiple budgets simultaneously has historically strained Nigeria’s fiscal system. Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) often struggle to manage cash flow when capital releases are spread across different fiscal years, leading to inefficiencies and poor value for money.
Under the new arrangement, he said, capital liabilities from previous years will be fully funded and closed by the March 2026 deadline.
“So we are terminating the habit of running through a budget on one inflow. By March 31, 2026, all capital liabilities from previous years will be fully funded and closed. No overlaps, no excuses and no rollover cultures,” he said.
By adopting a single funding framework, the executive will find it easier to plan disbursements, manage cash flows, and ensure timely releases to MDAs, thereby improving project delivery timelines.
Legislative process and commendation
The lawmaker also commended the House Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Abubakar Bichi, for its swift handling of the re-enactment bill transmitted by the President.
According to him, the committee’s diligence ensured that the bill was processed, debated, and passed before lawmakers proceeded on their Christmas and New Year recess, preventing further delays in the fiscal calendar.
He noted that early engagement between the executive and legislature helped smooth the process and underscored a shared commitment to reforming Nigeria’s budget architecture.
Backstory and recent developments
Earlier in the week, the House approved President Tinubu’s request to extend the implementation of the capital component of the 2025 Appropriation Act to March 31, 2026. This decision followed the passage of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, which the President transmitted to the National Assembly for approval.
In his cover letter to the Speaker, the President explained that the extension was necessary to enable the full release of capital funds to MDAs, many of which were unable to exhaust their allocations within the original timeframe.
Prior to this, the Federal Government had directed MDAs to carry over about 70 percent of their approved 2025 capital allocations into 2026, a stopgap measure that further highlighted structural weaknesses in Nigeria’s budgeting cycle.
Bigger picture
Lawmakers argue that the re-enactment marks a turning point in public finance management. By closing out legacy capital obligations and resetting the fiscal calendar, the National Assembly believes Nigeria can transition to a more predictable, disciplined, and transparent budgeting system.
If successfully implemented, the move could reduce abandoned projects, improve oversight efficiency, and strengthen public confidence in how government resources are planned and spent — key objectives as Nigeria seeks to stabilise its economy and improve service delivery.
Emmanuel Bassey is a Financial Expert that has worked in the Banking and Finance Industry for over 15+ years across different banks in Nigeria
