Senate Halts 2026 Budget Talks, Demands Full Report on 2024 Spending by October 23
By Dr. Nafisat Makinde
The Senate has halted deliberations on the 2026 budget framework until the Federal Government submits a comprehensive performance report on the 2024 budget and projections for 2025.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, issued the directive after a closed-door session with the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; Accountant General of the Federation, Samsudeen Ogunjimi; and Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu. The Senate ordered that the report be submitted on or before October 23, 2025.
Senator Musa said the delay in presenting the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) for 2026–2029 reflects the legislature’s insistence on fiscal accountability before approving new spending plans.
While the Finance Ministry maintains that the 2024 budget has achieved about 80 percent implementation, the Budget Office admitted that several assumptions underpinning the 2024 and 2025 budgets including oil price benchmarks, inflation, and debt service costs have failed to meet projections.
Yakubu explained that global oil prices fell short by $10–$15 per barrel, while the fiscal impact of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which allocates 30 percent of gross oil revenue and profits to upstream operations has reduced federal allocations by nearly 70 percent.
The Senate had earlier extended the implementation of the 2024 capital budget to December 31, 2025, citing revenue shortfalls and delayed releases to ministries and agencies. Lawmakers say the new report will determine whether the 2026 fiscal process proceeds this year or is deferred until performance benchmarks are verified.
Budget analysts warn that prolonged delays in the fiscal process could disrupt infrastructure delivery and increase borrowing pressure, especially as inflation and exchange rate volatility continue to weaken real spending power.
