The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday extended the time for implementing the capital part of the 2025 budget from 30 September to 31 December 2026.
The Senate approved this extension during a meeting after looking at a bill to change the budget's implementation period.
Earlier in the day, the House of Representatives also extended the budget's life.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the bill's passage after it was read three times in one day, with support from most senators.
The Senate Committee on Supply had earlier looked at the bill.
This extension is the fourth time lawmakers have pushed back the implementation period for the capital part of the 2025 budget.
Initially, the period was set to end on 31 December 2025. It was first extended to 31 March 2026 to help the federal government finish ongoing projects in the budget.
When that date passed on 31 March, lawmakers moved the deadline to 30 June 2026 for the same reasons.
In June, when the second deadline ended, they extended it again to 30 September.
The repeated extensions of the capital portion of budgets have raised concerns since Bola Tinubu became president.
Lawmakers and economic experts have often criticized this practice.
On 9 October 2025, Wale Edun, the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, told the Senate Committee on Finance that the government would stop extending the budget implementation beyond the fiscal year.
In December 2025, President Bola Tinubu also promised to end the practice of overlapping budgets while presenting the 2026 budget to the National Assembly.
Mr Tinubu assured Nigerians that by 31 March 2026, all capital liabilities would be fully funded and closed.
“We’re terminating the habit of running three budgets in one flow. By March 31, 2026, all capital liabilities from previous years will be fully funded and closed. From April, Nigeria will operate on a single budget,” the president promised.
The latest extension means that the capital portion of the 2025 budget will now stay open until the end of 2026. This shows that the government has not met the timeline set by the president.
The bill for the extension was introduced by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central).
Mr Bamidele said the extension was needed so ministries, departments, and agencies could finish capital projects that already had funds allocated and released.
“The objective before us is straightforward: to protect ongoing public investments, facilitate the completion of critical projects, prevent avoidable waste of public resources and maximise the value derivable from funds already appropriated and released,” Mr Bamidele said.
He argued that if they let the current deadline pass without an extension, it could cause problems for MDAs and increase the risk of projects being abandoned.
The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, also said the bill was necessary to stop many abandoned projects in the country.
Mr Jibrin, who represents Kano North Senatorial District, said extending the implementation period would allow the government to finish projects started under the 2025 budget instead of leaving them incomplete when the deadline expires.
The Minority Leader, Abba Moro, supported the extension too but warned senators not to use the debate to blame past administrations.
Mr Moro, who represents Benue South Senatorial District, said not extending the period could delay projects and lead to abandonment.
He urged lawmakers to avoid political comparisons during discussions about national development.
“We agree that extending the budget will enable the government to implement these projects. But to say, for instance, that the non-implementation of budgets extends beyond the administration of the APC government is actually being unfair,” Mr Moro said.
He called on lawmakers to focus on ways to help the government carry out its programs and projects.
After the debate, Mr Akpabio called for a voice vote, and most lawmakers voted in favor of the extension.
Drop your comment
No comments yet — be the first to drop the gist 👇