₦airaland Forum

In a tense plenary session on Tuesday, the Nigerian Senate approved a second extension of the capital component of the 2024 Appropriation Act, shifting its implementation deadline from June 30 to December 31, 2025.

The move granted accelerated passage means Nigeria now operates two federal budgets simultaneously, as the 2025 budget is also in force.

The bill, titled "A Bill for an Act to Amend the 2024 Appropriation Act to further extend the Capital Components of the Act from 30th June 2025 to 31st December 2025" (SB. 854), was presented in the name of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West).

It passed through first, second, and third readings in a single session under a suspended rule procedure.

While no senator opposed the bill in principle, debate on the floor laid bare deepening legislative disillusionment over chronic delays, financial mismanagement, and an implementation gridlock that many lawmakers warned could threaten the credibility of both the executive and the National Assembly.

Leading the presentation, Senator Adeola cited the need to allow sufficient time for procurement processes, disbursements, and actual project execution. He acknowledged it was the second time the capital implementation was being extended but emphasized that only the capital component was affected.

However, as senators weighed in, a pattern of frustration and institutional distrust emerged.

Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), a former Senate Leader, gave a scathing critique of the federal government’s payment system.

He accused the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of bottlenecking payments and stalling project execution even for contractors who had completed work.

"The credibility of this Government is getting very very down. Workers whose salaries have been increased, say we have given them 35 thousand Naira additional money and we have created a new minimum wage of 70 thousand Naira but nobody has seen anything.

"I think for the purpose of its own credibility this Government has to come and explain to Nigerians what is happening because now we are being taken for a ride.

Abdullahi warned that continued mismanagement not only risks government credibility but also raises doubts over the federal government's ability to fulfill its budgetary promises.

"I have been here since the third session of my presence in this National Assembly. We never had this , it has happened like this and the credibility of this Government is getting down, he lamented.

“This budget should have been implemented and done by December 31st, 2024,” he said. “Right now, the activities of the Government are stalled. The system adopted for payment has woefully failed.”

He called for immediate executive-legislative engagement with President Bola Tinubu to resolve what he described as a national crisis of financial coordination.

Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) supported the extension but decried the repetitive nature of the problem. He pointed to past resolutions instructing Senate leadership to engage with the Finance Ministry, which yielded no change.

He warned of selective project financing by the executive and questioned whether revenue shortfalls were truly the issue, stating that many constituency projects were completed six months ago but remain unpaid. Ningi called for a formal investigation by the Appropriations Committee to explain continued implementation failures.

His concerns were echoed by Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South), who said the National Assembly risked becoming “an embarrassment to itself” if it continued to rubber-stamp budget extensions without accountability. He noted that contractors have lost trust in the government's willingness to pay, even as another budget cycle looms.

“We must unbundle the payment process and accelerate fund releases,” Moro said. “Otherwise, we’ll be stuck with two budgets 2024 and 2025 without implementing either properly.”

Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West) lamented that despite 100% disbursement of recurrent expenditures, capital projects which directly affect citizens remain largely disenfranchised.

He suggested that political distractions, including 2027 election maneuvering and high-profile defections, may be diverting attention from governance.

“There was a time when contractors staged a protest over non-payment,” Dickson said. “This capital component goes to the people, yet it is the one not being implemented.”

He accused the Executive of being preoccupied with Politics at the expense of the Peoples welfare;

"Maybe there is too much preoccupation with politics and 2027, maybe there is too much concentration on receiving defectors all across the country.

"Because the business of the Nigerian people of which we all elected including the President of the Federal Republic is moving forward that is the reason for this Bill and motion has become necessary.

Dickson also dismissed the argument that Nigeria lacked funds. He reminded the chamber that revenue had surged since the removal of fuel subsidies and that subnational governments were receiving higher allocations, making liquidity an unlikely excuse.

"I associate it with the need to investigate, is it that we are not having enough money, " Dickson queried.

Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North) supported the extension but called for a review of the Finance Ministry’s “bottom-to-top” disbursement policy. He argued that it had introduced bureaucratic bottlenecks and red tape that stall effective budget execution.

Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over the plenary, acknowledged the widespread discontent. He confirmed that the Committees on Finance and Appropriations had engaged the Finance Minister and other stakeholders but hinted that the matter may now warrant direct engagement with President Tinubu.

“If the budget is not extended, projects will be abandoned,” Jibrin said. “But we’re nearing the point where we may have to escalate this to the President himself.”

Dual-Budget Dilemma

With the extension, Nigeria now faces the complexity of executing two separate national budgets in parallel, a fiscal irregularity that analysts warn could disrupt planning, obscure financial accountability, and overstretch implementation capacity within MDAs.

This is the second extension of the 2024 capital budget. In December 2024, President Tinubu wrote to the National Assembly requesting a six-month extension from 31 December 2024 to 30 June 2025 to complete ongoing projects. The Senate granted that extension after thorough debate.

Now, with many capital projects still unimplemented and contractors unpaid, lawmakers find themselves in a governance dilemma: extend and risk budgetary overlap or refuse and risk mass project abandonment.

In the end, political pragmatism prevailed over procedural purism.

The Senate passed the bill unanimously by voice vote after clause-by-clause consideration.

Meanwhile, the Senate tasked the Committees on Finance and Appropriations to investigate the persistent failures plaguing budget implementation though several lawmakers warned that without decisive action and executive cooperation, the investigation may yield little change.

As one senator put it off the record: “We keep extending, but Nigerians are not seeing results. If we don’t solve this, it’s not just the projects that will be abandoned. It’s trust in the government itself.”

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Omo, I made it . First time ever to be a first commenter. E be like say na this 40 character help me o. Seun i salute. Nice .
Make I go read am and come back to do the due

Complete bunkum. Nigeria is not a normal corn3, no surprises here . Very anyhow corn3

2024 budget till December 20205. Hahsin isnebsu

If another party can take over this useless APC comes 2027 it will a memorable experience for me personally. I hate everything about APC with a useless president

😂😂😂😂😂 Everyday this government keeps being exposed for what it is. I don't know how people defend it.

Bunch of old things with big big intentions of wanting to continue to plunder the nations resources

Tufiakwa

One notable thing Buhari did was making sure that the budget ran from JAN-DEC.

Tinubu has taken us back to Egypt.

And Reno came to Honest Bunch to lie that these set of Senators are the best. See the thing wey dem dy do. Na wa o

There are people that will be complaining.

Do you know how hard their work is? If it depended on you what will you do? In fact for a country like Nigeria, we need 3 good years to actually prepare a budget. Don't you know they have to consider the citizens individually? Based on our population, we need about 600 days. And guess what? We have just 365 (minus 2 days/week). Cut our senators a slack and give them a break. They're trying. Is it because of the small money they receive that people will be roasting them anyhow?

Well done senators!

We are now running a criminal franchise of incompetency. Government of the fools, for the fools and by the fools.

There is no other explanation for this charade

Ffgggffffffffdddddddddddddddddddddcccccccccfffffccccccccccdffddd

So they never execute 2024 budget finish!

What happened!

Take it or leave it,the 10th National Assembly is the worst and poised to remain so in the annal of Nigerian constitutional democracy.

Godswill Akpabio is so clueless and ineffectual Senate President.

This is a big lie from you.

Its lack of transparency that is causing dis!

If you read well, you will see where it was stated that the contractors were been owned. Why will money for projects not properly and accurately disbursed!

The government is evil and deteriorated!

logicalhumour:
There are people that will be complaining.

Do you know how hard their work is? If it depended on you what will you do? In fact for a country like Nigeria, we need 3 good years to actually prepare a budget. Don't you know they have to consider the citizens individually? Based on our population, we need about 600 days. And guess what? We have just 365 (minus 2 days/week). Cut our senators a slack and give them a break. They're trying. Is it because of the small money they receive that people will be roasting them anyhow?

Well done senators!

When will told them, APC, Tinubu have no plans, the hungry birds will start playing ethnic card. This is Juneb24, 2025 and they are still operating 2024 budgets. Anyways, APC will soon withered like dry leaves. What do you expect from a man with NO proven educational qualifications.

logicalhumour:
There are people that will be complaining.

Do you know how hard their work is? If it depended on you what will you do? In fact for a country like Nigeria, we need 3 good years to actually prepare a budget. Don't you know they have to consider the citizens individually? Based on our population, we need about 600 days. And guess what? We have just 365 (minus 2 days/week). Cut our senators a slack and give them a break. They're trying. Is it because of the small money they receive that people will be roasting them anyhow?

Well done senators!

What did I just read now?

Nigeria has no hope again.

Can this people from the west accept this type of nonsense in future from other regions?


Hahaha hahaha!

So many people are building their public graves in the future and I wonder how they will be talking again about Nigeria in future.

Buhari and his bunch of trouble makers has been silenced after his fumbling outing in government.

The next is Tinubu and his gang in future.


I love what is going on.


🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

And we still have youths that are defending this wickedness. God will definitely judge that's one thing i know. If you're using power to shut our mouth you can't stop God from dealing with you when it's time.

At this rate, we will be operating the 2025 budget in the year 2027.

Tinubu has successfully reduced governance to a caricature, haphazardly.

So this is how he built Lagos from scratch?

No wonder he left behind a legacy of thugs, agberos, and hoodlums.

logicalhumour:
There are people that will be complaining.

Do you know how hard their work is? If it depended on you what will you do? In fact for a country like Nigeria, we need 3 good years to actually prepare a budget. Don't you know they have to consider the citizens individually? Based on our population, we need about 600 days. And guess what? We have just 365 (minus 2 days/week). Cut our senators a slack and give them a break. They're trying. Is it because of the small money they receive that people will be roasting them anyhow?

Well done senators!

Are we more polulated than USA or China that run a budget for one year. The sense some of you have is questionable

Love800:
So they never execute 2024 budget finish!

What happened!

Tinubu happened

An ineffectual buffoon happened

A sign-post of incompetence happened

Smartcitizen:
Can this people from the west accept this type of nonsense in future from other regions?


Hahaha hahaha!

So many people are building their public graves in the future and I wonder how they will be talking again about Nigeria in future.

Buhari and his bunch of trouble makers has been silenced after his fumbling outing in government.

The next is Tinubu and his gang in future.


I love what is going on.


🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Exactly ...so I must write 40 characters for 72 virgins for terrorists

Smartcitizen:
Can this people from the west accept this type of nonsense in future from other regions?


Hahaha hahaha!

So many people are building their public graves in the future and I wonder how they will be talking again about Nigeria in future.

Buhari and his bunch of trouble makers has been silenced after his fumbling outing in government.

The next is Tinubu and his gang in future.


I love what is going on.


🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Which waste?
Almost all of them are clapping for failure.
Even when they're sleeping and snoring, they're still clapping.

He accused the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of bottlenecking payments and stalling project execution even for contractors who had completed work.

"The credibility of this Government is getting very very down. Workers whose salaries have been increased, say we have given them 35 thousand Naira additional money and we have created a new minimum wage of 70 thousand Naira but nobody has seen anything.

This is one aspect where the government is not getting it right.

Chegesnd:
Which waste?
Almost all of them are clapping for failure.
Even when they're sleeping and snoring, they're still clapping.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣


I love that, time shall tell who will clap last.

We are watching on 3D


🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

logicalhumour:
There are people that will be complaining.

Do you know how hard their work is? If it depended on you what will you do? In fact for a country like Nigeria, we need 3 good years to actually prepare a budget. Don't you know they have to consider the citizens individually? Based on our population, we need about 600 days. And guess what? We have just 365 (minus 2 days/week). Cut our senators a slack and give them a break. They're trying. Is it because of the small money they receive that people will be roasting them anyhow?

Well done senators!

Sweet sarcasm......but people who do not understand English Language will roast you

Lol!

Tinubu don't really have anything to offer. The guy is a century failure and cancerous inflammation!

Bobloco:
Tinubu happened

An ineffectual buffoon happened

A sign-post of incompetence happened

TallNigerian:
This is one aspect where the government is not getting it right.

Where are they getting it right?

Where is the refinery they told you is working?


Please just mention where Tinubu and his fumbling government policies are getting it right?


Stop deceiving yourself please.

Truth is there is no money to fund capital projects, all the talk of economy is improving na just for paper. The sudden rise of the naira and fuel has slowed down economic activities. If you look closely around you, you will discover that businesses are not as buoyant as they once were.
Someone said a gradual implementation of these policies would have been better but some APC people say na lie.