House approves extension of capital component of 2025 budget to March 2026
The house of representatives has approved the extension of the implementation of the capital component of the 2025 budget to March 31, 2026.
The decision followed the passage of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bills.
Last week, President Bola Tinubu transmitted the bills to the national assembly, explaining that the move would enable the full release of capital implementation funds to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
The first bill seeks to repeal the 2024 Appropriation Act of N35,055,536,770,218 and re-enact it by authorising the issuance of N43,561,041,744,507 from the consolidated revenue fund of the federation. The proposed sum includes N1,742,786,788,150 for statutory transfers, N8,270,960,606,831 for debt service, N11,268,513,380,853 for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and N22,278,780,968,673 for capital expenditure and development fund contributions for the year ending December 31, 2025.
The second bill proposes the repeal of the 2025 Appropriation Act of N54,990,165,355,396 and its re-enactment with a revised total expenditure of N48,316,242,591,785. The breakdown includes N3,645,761,358,925 for statutory transfers, N14,317,142,689,548 for debt service, N13,588,009,682,673 for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and N16,765,328,860,640 for capital expenditure and development fund contributions for the year ending March 31, 2026.
The lower chamber considered and approved the president’s request during Tuesday’s plenary after adopting a report presented by Abubakar Bichi, chairman of the committee on appropriation.
Bichi told lawmakers that the committee engaged with the president’s economic team — including Wale Edun, minister of finance; Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and economic planning; and Tanimu Yakubu, director-general of the budget office of the federation — to better understand the justification for repealing and re-enacting the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts.
He said the repeal and re-enactment of the 2025 budget would strike a balance between responsiveness and fiscal responsibility, ensuring that urgent expenditures do not erode legislative oversight or undermine fiscal discipline.
Bichi explained that N16.76 trillion was removed from the capital allocation and rolled over to the 2026 fiscal year due to funding constraints.
“The initiative is expected to make the budget effective, reducing the expenditure of the governance, giving the anticipated increase in revenue-generating properties in the next fiscal year,” he said.
He also acknowledged that rolling budget cycles — such as extending the implementation of the 2024 Appropriation Act deep into 2025 while the 2025 budget is operational — weakens budget clarity and undermines fiscal discipline.
Following the presentation of the report, the house considered the bills clause by clause, approved them, and passed them for third reading. The green chamber thereafter adjourned plenary until January 27.
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