The country’s budget conundrum continued on Wednesday as President Bola Tinubu sought a repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 budget, reviewing it to N43.56trillion and harmonising portions of the 2025 budget with it.

Tinubu, in his covering letter, said the latest move was part of measures to end multiple budgets running concurrently.

The “Bill for an Act to Repeal and Re-enact the 2024/2025 Appropriations Act” was speedily passed through first and second readings on Wednesday at the Senate.

It came under 48 hours after the government admitted that the 2025 budget of N54.99trn faced funding challenges.

According to the provisions, the bill captures ₦1.74 trillion for statutory transfers; ₦8.27 trillion for debt service; ₦11.27 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure and ₦22.28 trillion for capital expenditure and development fund contribution, as provided in the bill.

The Senate said it had directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Mr Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu and the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr Zacch Adedeji, among others, to appear before the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Thursday to give further details.

Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, while leading the debate on the bill, explained the essence of this proposal, which, according to him, was not merely procedural; it is structural and reform-driven.

Bamidele argued that the bill sought “to repeal and re-enact the existing Appropriation framework in order to bring an end to the unhealthy practice of running multiple budget cycles concurrently.”

The leader pointed out diverse explanations, which established that such a practice had historically undermined budget clarity, weakened fiscal discipline, and blurred accountability across ministries, departments and agencies.

The lawmaker also noted that the amendment bill sought to provide a clear, grounded, and orderly appropriation mechanism that enables the government to lawfully consolidate, regularise, and appropriate expenditures that are critical, time-sensitive, and unavoidable, particularly those undertaken in response to emergency exigencies.”

Noting that the proposal was a careful balance between responsiveness and responsibility, Bamidele explained that the amendment was designed to ensure that urgent public spending did not erode legislative oversight or fiscal prudence.

He added that the bill reinforced the collective well-being of Nigerians by ensuring that expenditures aimed at safeguarding national security, social stability, and economic continuity are not left in legal or administrative uncertainty.

He also said the bill sought to strengthen the pillars of fiscal discipline, accountability, and prudent public financial management, which this Senate has consistently upheld.

Only yesterday, the Senate approved the 2026-2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).

The document captured N54.46trn as the proposed budget for 2026.

The government’s retained revenue for 2026 is estimated at N34.33trn with a new borrowing component of N17.88trn. Debt service obligations are expected to gulp N15.52trn.

Other provisions include N1.376trn for pensions, gratuities and retirees’ benefits, while the fiscal deficit is pegged at N20.13 trillion.

Capital expenditure, exclusive of transfers, is N20.131trn, besides statutory transfers of N3.152trn and a Sinking Fund provision of N388.54 billion.

Total recurrent (non-debt) expenditure is pegged at N15.265trn, with special intervention funds for recurrent and capital spending set at N200bn and N14bn respectively.

The Senate approved the MTEF on Tuesday after considering the report of its Committees on Finance chaired by Senator Sani Musa.

The MTEF spells out the spending details of the government for the next three years, a requirement of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.

In the presidential proposal, $64.85, $64.30 and $65.50 per barrel was fixed for 2026, 2027 and 2028, respectively.

However, the Senate approved $60, $65 and $70 for 2026, 2027 and 2028 respectively.

Defending its decision, the Senate attributed it to the political tensions in Europe and the Middle East, which had led to an unstable global oil market situation.

However, the Senate retained the crude oil production projection at 1.84 million barrels per day (mbpd) for 2026, 1.88mbpd for 2027 and 1.92mbpd for 2028 respectively.

Senators also approved exchange rates of N1,512 to the dollar in 2026, N1,432.15 in 2027 and N1,383.18 in 2028.

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