STOP THIS FISCAL RASCALITY IN NIGERIA
Auwal Musa
STOP THIS FISCAL RASCALITY IN NIGERIA
We, the undersigned civil society organisations, express grave concern over the recent constitutional breaches in the repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts carried out by a collaboration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly (“NASS”). We are also concerned about the opacity, lack of transparency and popular participation in the federal budgeting process, to the extent that eighteen days after the presentation of the federal executive budget, the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) and the NASS have failed, refused and neglected to upload same to their websites.
Furthermore, the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts (Repeal and Re-enactment) bills which have been approved by NASS are not available to Nigerians on any electronic portal and there was no opportunity for popular participation in the consideration and re-enactment of these Acts.
These breaches raise fundamental questions about the management of public revenues and expenditure and the responsiveness of the executive and legislature to the fiscal stipulations of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended (“Constitution”) and the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
We recall that S.81 of the Constitution explicitly provides for the submission of expenditure proposals by the President to NASS and prior approval of the NASS before public expenditure is incurred. This is further buttressed by S.80 (2), (3) and (4) of the Constitution. These provisions inform the yearly submission of executive budget proposals to NASS for approval and their in-year amendment if the need arises.
Essentially, expenditure must be based on prior legislative approval and not legislative endorsement of already incurred expenditure. The 2024 Appropriation Act should have expired on December 31 2024 but NASS purported to extend the life span to June 2025 and later December 2025. Even in its extended lifespan, the executive failed to implement the 2024 budget in accordance with its tenor and now that the extended life has ended, the President sought to repeal and re-enact the Act increasing the total budget size from ₦35.05 trillion to ₦43.56 trillion.
This is a legal and constitutional impossibility and can only be possible in a country where the rule of law is continuously desecrated. It is an affront to the fiscal provisions of the Constitution for the President to spend extra N8trillion in public funds without prior legislative approval and Nigeria was not operating under any declared fiscal emergency. The President only sought endorsement after expenditure and the supine rubber stamp NASS gave its approval.
On the reduction in the size of the 2025 federal budget, a budget is reviewed mid-year in June and the outcome of the review deployed in the amendment of the budget. A budget is not arbitrarily reviewed in December when its life should end. We recall that NASS stated that the decision to repeal and re-enact the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts was taken to align Nigeria’s budgeting process with global best practices, enhance transparency, and resolve implementation challenges associated with running multiple budgets. This position of NASS cannot be supported by Nigerian fiscal laws and policies or any international best practice. Rather it is a mismanagement and gross abuse of due process and our fiscal laws.
S.48 (1) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act states that the Federal Government shall ensure that its fiscal and financial affairs are conducted in a transparent manner and accordingly ensure full and timely disclosure and wide publication of all transactions and decisions involving public revenues and expenditures and their implications for its finances. The refusal to make public the 2026 Appropriation Bill or the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bills (now Acts of NASS) are in gross violation of this provision. Citizens cannot engage budget bills that they have not seen or have access to. In the past, the BOF produced citizens budgets which were simplified versions of the larger budget while the current BOF simply refuses to make available the basic budget document.
Against the background of the foregoing, we demand the following:
§ NASS should ensure that there is no expenditure without appropriation as unbudgeted expenditure not incurred in accordance with constitutional stipulations is an impeachable offence.
§ An unconditional guarantee by the President to abide by constitutional stipulations of spending only what has been appropriated.
§ The immediate publication of the 2026 federal budget estimates on the website of the BOF and NASS.
§ The immediate publication of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bills and the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Acts on the website of the BOF and NASS.
§ A commitment to fiscal transparency in accordance with S.48 of the FRA and a guarantee of popular participation in the consideration and approval of all fiscal laws and policies.
Signed:
Centre for Social Justice (CSJ)
Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ)
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)
PLSI
BudgIT
PRIMORG
Head of Transparency International (Nigeria)
Amnesty International (Nigeria)Trustee Chairman and standing Representative.
Chairman, Transition Monitoring Group(TMG)
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