President Bola Tinubu has said that only about 17 per cent of Nigeria’s 2025 capital budget, equivalent to ₦3.1 trillion, had been released by the third quarter of the year.
Presenting the 2026 budget to the National Assembly on Friday, Tinubu said the low level of capital releases was largely due to the government’s focus on completing priority projects under the 2024 budget, whose implementation was extended into 2025.
The president said that as of June 2025, the government had released ₦2.23 trillion for 2024 capital projects following the extension of that budget’s execution to December 2025.
According to him, implementation of the 2025 budget was affected by the transition between fiscal cycles and competing execution demands.
Tinubu said total revenue for 2025 stood at ₦18.6 trillion, representing 61 per cent of the target, while expenditure reached ₦24.66 trillion, about 60 per cent of projected spending.
“Let me be clear: 2026 will be a year of stronger discipline in budget execution,” Tinubu told lawmakers.
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He said he had directed the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, the minister of budget and economic planning, the accountant-general of the federation, and the director-general of the budget office to ensure strict implementation of the 2026 budget in line with approved timelines and allocations.
Tinubu said the government expects improved revenue performance from the implementation of the new National Tax Acts and ongoing reforms in the oil and gas sector, which he said were aimed at improving transparency, efficiency and long-term fiscal sustainability.
The president also warned government-owned enterprises (GOEs) to meet their revenue targets, announcing plans to digitise revenue mobilisation to reduce leakages.
“Heads of all government-owned enterprises are hereby directed to meet their assigned revenue targets,” Tinubu said.
He said the digitisation drive would include standardised electronic collections, automated reconciliation and real-time performance monitoring, adding that revenue targets would form part of performance evaluations for agencies and their leadership.
Tinubu said Nigeria could no longer afford inefficiencies or revenue leakages, stressing that all institutions must contribute to fiscal stability.
Earlier in the week, the Senate began consideration of a bill seeking to repeal and re-enact the 2024/2025 Appropriations Act, proposing a revised budget size of ₦43.56 trillion.
Tinubu had formally transmitted the Appropriation, Repeal and Re-enactment Bill 2024 to the National Assembly for consideration.