January 8, 2026 — In a landmark legislative session, the National Assembly has formally concluded the repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts. This unprecedented move marks a definitive shift in Nigeria’s public finance management strategy, aimed at correcting the systemic “budget overlap” that has historically hindered efficient implementation of capital projects.
The Senate and the House of Representatives, in a harmonized effort, passed the revised frameworks which establish the 2024 budget at $N43.56$ trillion and the 2025 budget at $N48.32$ trillion. This legislative action was necessitated by the realization that previous fiscal years were operating under fragmented legal authorities, leading to what the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations described as “fiscal clutter.”
The legislative journey to this repeal involved extensive public hearings and inter-ministerial consultations. Lawmakers argued that while the 1999 Constitution grants the Executive the power to propose spending, the National Assembly holds the ultimate “power of the purse” to ensure those proposals are realistic and legal. By repealing the previous Acts, the legislature has effectively reset the national accounting books.
Central to this re-enactment is the synchronization of the fiscal year. Historically, Nigeria has struggled to maintain a January-to-December cycle. The new laws explicitly mandate that the implementation of the 2024 budget must wind down to allow the 2025 cycle to take full effect without the burden of carry-over liabilities from two years prior. This provides a “clean slate” for the 2026 fiscal year, which is already in its early planning stages.
Furthermore, the re-enactment process addressed the discrepancy in revenue projections. With the fluctuating price of crude oil and changes in the exchange rate regime, the initial 2024 figures had become obsolete. The new Act reflects a more conservative revenue benchmark, ensuring that the budget deficit remains within the limits prescribed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The National Assembly Library will now house the full transcripts of the debates leading to this passage, serving as a resource for researchers on Nigerian legislative history.
