By Charles Pemu 
In a decisive move to restore fiscal discipline and streamline Nigeria’s public expenditure, the National Assembly has approved a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s budgetary framework. On Tuesday, December 23, 2025, both legislative chambers passed the Appropriation Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bills for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years, effectively resetting the country’s spending targets to a combined ₦91.87 trillion.
The legislative intervention, prompted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, aims to eliminate the long-standing inefficiency of running multiple budget cycles concurrently while aligning government spending with current economic realities and revenue constraints.
The Senate and the House of Representatives repealed the original ₦35.05 trillion 2024 budget, re-enacting it with a significantly higher expenditure of ₦43.56 trillion.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Solomon Adeola, explained that the ₦8.5 trillion surge was essential to address critical national priorities. This additional funding is earmarked for “special interventions” targeting security operations, humanitarian relief, and urgent economic measures to mitigate the rising cost of living for Nigerians.
2024 Revised Breakdown:
- Capital Expenditure: ₦22.27 trillion
- Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure: ₦11.26 trillion
- Debt Servicing: ₦8.27 trillion
- Statutory Transfers: ₦1.74 trillion
Recognizing revenue shortfalls and a low capital execution rate, the National Assembly also reworked the 2025 budget. Originally set at ₦54.99 trillion, the framework has been scaled down to ₦48.31 trillion.+1
A significant component of this reform is the extension of the 2025 fiscal year to March 31, 2026. President Tinubu noted that only 17% of capital funds had been released by the third quarter of 2025, and this extension provides Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) the necessary time to achieve a realistic 30% implementation benchmark.+1
2025 Revised Breakdown:
- Capital Expenditure: ₦16.76 trillion (following a ₦6.67 trillion deferral to 2026)
- Debt Servicing: ₦14.31 trillion
- Recurrent Expenditure: ₦13.58 trillion
- Statutory Transfers: ₦3.64 trillion
A primary goal of this “Fiscal Reset” is to correct the structural flaws in Nigeria’s budgeting process. President Tinubu, in his communication to the lawmakers, stressed that ending the practice of running multiple budgets simultaneously is a key pillar of his broader fiscal reform agenda.
Lawmakers echoed this sentiment, noting that the extension ensures budget performance remains “credible and transparent” rather than relying on unachievable projections. By shifting the 2025 deadline to March 2026, the government hopes to create a cleaner transition into the 2026 fiscal year, which is currently projected at ₦58.47 trillion.