President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally requested the National Assembly to repeal and re-enact the 2024 and 2025 national budgets, a move aimed at realigning Nigeria’s fiscal framework with current economic realities and ending the practice of overlapping appropriation cycles.
In a letter dated December 18, 2025, and addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, the President asked the legislature to consider fresh Appropriation Bills to “improve implementation discipline” and establish a clearer, more transparent budgeting process.
The proposal seeks to reset the 2024 budget, increasing it from N35.06 trillion to N43.56 trillion. The revised framework allocates N22.28 trillion for capital expenditure, N11.27 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) spending, N8.27 trillion for debt service, and N1.74 trillion for statutory transfers.
Simultaneously, the President is seeking to revise the 2025 budget downward from N54.99 trillion to N48.32 trillion. This new figure includes N16.71 trillion for capital expenditure, N13.59 trillion for recurrent non-debt spending, N14.32 trillion for debt service, and N3.65 trillion for statutory transfers.
President Tinubu explained that the adjustments are necessary to accommodate previously unforeseen expenditures and to reflect a more realistic capital implementation target of 30 per cent. He stated the revisions would align the budgets “with prevailing fiscal conditions and execution capacity, while preserving credibility and transparency in public finance.”
A key feature of the proposal is the extension of the 2025 budget implementation period to March 31, 2026. According to the President, this extension is intended to enable the full release and utilization of the targeted capital allocation across all government ministries, departments, and agencies.
The bills also introduce stricter implementation safeguards, including:
* Mandating that funds be used only for purposes approved by the National Assembly.
* Requiring prior legislative approval for any virement (reallocation of funds).
* Establishing clear conditions for issuing budgetary corrections.
* Mandating separate recording and restricting the use of excess revenues without legislative backing.
The President described the submission as part of a broader reform agenda to eliminate the inefficiencies of concurrent budget cycles and strengthen planning, execution, and accountability.
This latest request supersedes a similar proposal sent to the National Assembly just two days prior, on December 16, 2025.