The National Assembly has announced plans to extend the 2024 budget cycle, citing delays in the budget presentation and approval process.
This development comes as President Bola Tinubu is set to present the N47.9 trillion 2025 budget proposal to a joint session of the National Assembly at 12 p.m. today, December 18, 2024.
Osita Izunaso, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions, explained that the late submission of the budget made it impossible to pass it before the year’s end.
Speaking to journalists, Izunaso said, “The budget is coming late. Today is December 18, so we will lose that culture of beginning a new year with a new budget. Nevertheless, the budget has a lifespan of 12 months.
“Even after 12 months, we still have the liberty to extend it. In fact, we are extending the 2024 budget today. But that culture of starting on the 1st of January, we have lost it. The executive ought to have brought this budget way before now.”
Izunaso acknowledged that the delay might have been due to efforts by the executive to carefully prepare the budget.
The January-December budget cycle was introduced by the 9th National Assembly in 2020 under former President Muhammadu Buhari to improve budget performance. Before then, Nigeria operated a June-May budget cycle, which often caused planning and implementation challenges.
At the time, then-Senate President Ahmad Lawan had stated, “If we can return to the January-December cycle, it will enhance the budget performance of this country.”
Tinubu had similarly stressed the importance of the January-December cycle during the presentation of the 2024 budget on November 29, 2023. “Our goal is for the Appropriation Act to take effect on the 1st of January 2024,” he said, urging lawmakers to pass the budget promptly.
However, despite Tinubu’s appeal, the late presentation of the 2025 budget has disrupted this timeline.
As of now, both chambers of the National Assembly are holding separate closed-door sessions. Present at the National Assembly are the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, among other executives.
The delay raises concerns about the timely implementation of the 2025 budget. Nonetheless, Izunaso assured Nigerians that once passed, the 2025 budget will have a full 12-month lifespan, irrespective of the late start.
Observers hope the executive and legislature will work more closely in the future to ensure Nigeria returns to the January-December cycle, enhancing budgetary planning and execution across the nation.
