Alltimepost.com Sincerity of Purpose
The Senate explained that the extension was required to allow the federal government to complete ongoing projects captured in the budget.
The Senate has again extended the implementation timeline of the capital component of the 2024 federal budget till 31 December 2025.
The upper chamber made the resolution during the plenary on Tuesday following an appropriation bill requesting its amendment and extension.
The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, announced the extension of the appropriation bill after it was read for the first, second and third times on the same day and supported by most senators.
The bill was also considered at the Senate Committee of Supply.
Debate on extension
The Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West), led the debate on extending the budget’s implementation.
Mr Adeola explained that the extension was required to allow the federal government to complete ongoing projects captured in the budgets.
He also said the Nigerian government lacks the resources to capture the expenditures proposed in the budget.
Therefore, Mr Adeola urged his colleagues to support the extension of the budget to avoid abandoning federal government projects in different parts of the country.
Borno North Senator Tahir Munguno seconded the consideration for extending the appropriation bill.
Bauchi Central Senator Abdul Ningi and his counterpart from Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson, urged the leadership of the National Assembly to ensure transparency in budget management.
Mr Ningi, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), urged the Senate to direct its appropriations committee to engage with the presidency and seek clarification on the country’s poor financial capacity to fund critical projects.
“I think the Committee on Appropriations, Mr President, should be saddled with an investigation on why there is this lack of money. It is important that even though Senator Yahaya Abdullahi said we have given the leadership that mandate, nothing has changed. We need to redo what parliament does. Give the appropriations committee a mandate of two weeks to present before this chamber as to what is happening.
“Mr President, this is parliament. We need to be guided by logic. We need to be guided by facts on the ground. What is happening is not backed by facts. I have no problem….there is a necessity for us to address this issue, but we cannot continue extending all the time,” he added.
Mr Dickson, on the other hand, criticised the federal government for extending the budget timeline, arguing that it failed to provide a convincing justification for the decision.
“Government has grounded, contractors who have worked can’t be paid. We’re talking about the capital component. The component that is stagnant is the one that is going directly to Nigerians. It is a very sad situation. We have not given any compelling reason why this extension is necessary. Maybe there is too much concentration on 2027, or maybe there is too much concentration on receiving defectors.
“I associate with the need to investigate. Is it that we don’t have enough money? We all supported the withdrawal of subsidy. It means that the reason the capital component is not moving forward is not because of money,” he added.
Kebbi North Senator Yahaya Abdullahi said the federal government’s credibility is down.
“I think we need to know what really is happening. Some people are saying that there is a cash flow problem or whatever. The credibility of this government is getting very, very down. For workers whose salaries have been increased, we say we have given them N35,000 additional money, and we have created a minimum wage of N70,000, but nobody has seen anything.
“So I think for the purpose of its own credibility, this government has to come to explain to Nigerians what is happening. Because now, for example, we are being taken for a ride. We amended the budget to December. I have been here for the past three decades, and this is the third session of my presence in this National Assembly. We never had this. It has never happened like this. The credibility of the government is getting down.”
Responding, the deputy senate president, who presided over the session, warned that failure to extend the budget implementation would lead to numerous abandoned projects.
After the contributions, Mr Jibrin put the decision to extend the budgets to a voice vote, and the majority of the lawmakers supported it.
Second extension
This is the second time the Senate is extending the capital implementation phase of the 2024 budget, which has a capital component of N13.1 trillion and a budget size of N34 trillion.
The initial extension followed a request from President Bola Tinubu, who in December 2024, wrote to the National Assembly seeking approval to shift the capital expenditure implementation deadline from 31 December 2024 to 30 June 2025.
The president’s reason at the time was to enable the executive arm to complete ongoing capital projects and optimise budgetary allocations.
That extension was granted after extensive debate and consideration by both chambers of the National Assembly.
However, as the 30 June 2025 deadline approached, it became evident that several critical projects funded under the 2024 budget had not been completed, prompting the fresh extension.
Two budgets in force
With the new deadline of 31 December 2025, Nigeria is now operating two budgets within a single fiscal year – the 2024 budget, which is still being implemented and the 2025 budget, which has already passed and is currently in force.
When the 2024 budget was first extended, some critics argued that it would reflect weak execution capacity within government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
However, supporters of the move said it would ensure value for money and completion of critical infrastructure projects that otherwise would have been abandoned.
PREMIUM TIMES
