• Nigerians losing confidence in Tinubu’s government, say senators
From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate has again extended the capital expenditure component of the 2024 Appropriation Act till December 31, 2025, citing delays in procurement and fund releases. This marks the second extension of the budget’s lifespan, having initially shifted the capital implementation deadline from December 2024 to June 2025.
The 2024 Appropriation Act, signed into law in January, has a total expenditure outlay of N28.7 trillion, with N9.9 trillion allocated for capital expenditure, N8.2 trillion for recurrent non-debt spending and N8.2 trillion for debt servicing. A N2.17 trillion Supplementary Budget passed later in 2024 raised funding for security, infrastructure and social welfare interventions, bringing the total federal spending for the year to nearly N30.87 trillion.
The bill titled: “A Bill for an Act to Amend the 2024 Appropriation Act to further extend the Capital Components of the Act,” was listed in yesterday’s Order Paper and went through an accelerated process on the floor of the senate.
It was presented for the first reading, and thereafter, Senate Rule 78(1) was suspended to allow for its immediate second reading. The lead debate was delivered by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Olamilekan Adeola, who justified the extension by stating that procurement processes were still ongoing and the extension would allow for the full utilisation of appropriated funds.
Adeola explained: “This extension is necessary to enable Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) complete the ongoing procurement and ensure that capital projects are delivered as planned. Without this, many critical infrastructure projects risk being abandoned or delayed indefinitely.”
The motion was seconded by the Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Mungonu, who echoed the need to preserve the intent of capital allocations in the 2024 budget.
However, many senators expressed concern over the continuous extension of budget implementation in their debates, saying the public was fast losing confidence in the Tinubu-led administration.
In his contribution, Yahaya Abdullahi warned that constant extensions of budget timelines may become a dangerous trend that could weaken budget discipline and planning.
He added: “The credibility of this government is getting down. There has never been a time in the history of National Assembly, where the appropriation bill is extended twice in one cycle. The Executive arm of government needs to explain to Nigerians what’s happening.”
Similarly, Abdul Ningi recalled that the same issue had come up during an executive session in 2024 and again in March this year. He argued that the problem went beyond procurement as it is clear that some officials of the government are choosing what projects to implement.
“Almost 80 percent of the constituency projects were completed six months ago. This is about selective payment by the Ministry of Finance and the Accountant General. We cannot continue like this,” Ningi said.
On his part, Minority Leader, Abba Moro, also called for a more robust oversight of the appropriation process. “We must take the bull by the horns. Unless we confront this budget release bottleneck head-on, the integrity of this parliament will be called into question,” he warned.
Similarly, Seriake Dickson lamented that while the recurrent component of the budget which largely benefits bureaucrats had been implemented fully, the capital component, which directly impacts the masses, had stalled.
“It appears politics and 2027 elections are taking precedence over governance. Maybe the focus on receiving defectors to the APC is the distraction here,” he stated, while calling for an investigation into the reasons for the persistent extensions.
Following the debate, the bill was referred to the Committee of the Whole under Senate Rule 80(1), where it was considered clause by clause. Afterwards, another motion was passed to suspend Rule 78(1), allowing for the third reading on the same day.
When passed into law, it will mean that Nigeria is running three budgets concurrently.
In a similar development, the Senate also passed the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025, which seeks to extend the lifespan of the Trust Fund from six to 12 years. The bill aims to ensure continued provision of training, security equipment and infrastructure for the Nigeria Police.
The lead debate on this was presented by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, who emphasised that it would consolidate gains made in police reforms. It also scaled first and second readings on the same day, and following clause-by-clause consideration, Rule 78(1) was once again suspended to allow third reading. The bill was subsequently passed.