President Bola Tinubu has forwarded fresh Appropriation (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bills for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years to the House of Representatives, proposing the repeal of the existing budgets and their replacement with revised spending frameworks reflecting current fiscal conditions.
The request was announced on Friday during plenary by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, who read a letter from the president titled “Transmission of the Appropriation (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bills, 2024 and 2025.”
In the letter, President Tinubu said the bills were submitted in line with constitutional and legislative requirements governing appropriation. He explained that the revised proposals were meant to accommodate items not captured in the original budgets and to improve fiscal planning, execution and accountability.
The first bill seeks to repeal the 2024 Appropriation Act, which stood at ₦35.06 trillion, and re-enact it with an increased total expenditure of ₦43.56 trillion for the fiscal year ending 31 December 2025. The revised estimate includes ₦1.74 trillion for statutory transfers, ₦8.27 trillion for debt servicing, ₦11.27 trillion for recurrent non-debt expenditure, and ₦22.28 trillion for capital expenditure and development fund contributions.
The second bill proposes the repeal of the 2025 Appropriation Act of ₦54.99 trillion and its re-enactment with a reduced total expenditure of ₦48.32 trillion for the period ending 31 March 2026. Under the proposal, ₦3.65 trillion is allocated for statutory transfers, ₦4.32 trillion for debt servicing, ₦13.59 trillion for recurrent non-debt expenditure, and ₦16.71 trillion for capital expenditure and development fund contributions.
President Tinubu said the revised budgets are based on a capital implementation target of 30 per cent, which he described as more realistic given prevailing fiscal conditions and government execution capacity. He also proposed extending the implementation of the 2025 budget to 31 March 2026 to ensure the full release of the targeted capital allocation to ministries, departments and agencies.
He explained that the adjustments were intended to align expenditure plans with fiscal realities, improve transparency and credibility in budget performance, and eliminate the problem of overlapping budgets running concurrently.
The president added that the bills introduce stricter implementation controls, including limits on the use of appropriated funds strictly for approved purposes, restrictions on virement without National Assembly approval, provisions for corrigenda where genuine errors affect implementation, and separate accounting for excess revenue.
The proposals further require that excess revenue be spent only with legislative approval, mandate compliance with due-process requirements, and provide for regular reporting on fund releases and agency revenues.
President Tinubu informed lawmakers that the new submission replaces an earlier letter dated 16 December and urged the House to give the bills expedited consideration.
After the letter was read, Speaker Tajudeen said the House leadership had consulted with the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the Clerk of the House and agreed to refer the bills to the committee for detailed scrutiny.
The House subsequently referred the two bills to the Committee on Appropriations for further legislative action and report.
