An accountability group has called on President Bola Tinubu to prioritise the 2025 capital budget and treat it as a national emergency.
The Coalition for Equitable Development and Fiscal Justice (CEDFJ) claimed that the Ministry of Finance has failed in its responsibility to champion the president’s economic reforms.
Also describing the ministry as the weakest link in the nation’s economic architecture since Tinubu assumed office in 2023, the group warned that current bureaucratic bottlenecks within the Ministry of Finance are impeding the nation’s economic recovery process.
In a statement issued on Monday, the group’s President, Gbenga Akinbowale, and its National Secretary, Gloria Maduegbuna, said that these bottlenecks created by the Ministry are also eroding citizens’ confidence in the present administration ahead of the 2027 elections.
The duo warned that Nigeria’s economic management under the leadership of Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance is slowing down President Tinubu’s reform agenda.
The group accused the ministry and its leadership of failing in their duty which is focused on translating the economic policies of President Tinubu into tangible results that would benefit the people.
“The Ministry of Finance has become the weakest link in the President’s economic architecture. While the President has shown courage in reforming oil subsidy, foreign exchange policy, and national planning, his finance team continues to choke these reforms with slow execution, delayed capital releases, and bureaucratic aloofness,” the statement said.
It also noted that Nigeria’s economic system is currently trapped in a cycle of excuses and inefficiency, leading to Nigerians’ loss of confidence in the present administration.
CEDFJ further calling for a total overhaul of the nation’s budget implementation process said the people cannot afford to bear the impact of the late release of funds for projects or stalling of the same due to bureaucratic processes within the government systems.
“The President must now see the 2025 capital budget as a national emergency. Each year, the same bureaucratic cycle repeats itself — funds are released late, projects stall midway, and inflation wipes out the value of appropriations. This must not continue under an administration that came to power promising a break from the past.
“Every stalled road project, every uncompleted hospital or power installation is a reminder that citizens are still waiting for the Renewed Hope they were promised. If these expectations remain unmet, no amount of political messaging will fill the gap left by poor delivery,” it said.
The group added that repeating the same bureaucratic rituals that have failed for years is no longer sustainable, especially when the Ministry of Finance is not ready for a reform process that places it on a pedestal which can aid its function as an enabler of growth and not a gatekeeper of inertia.
The statement said, “The President must take personal charge of this process.
“The credibility of the Renewed Hope Agenda depends not on how well the budget is written, but on how faithfully it is implemented. If 2025 becomes another year of excuses, we risk eroding the very hope that brought this government to power,” it said.