Nigeria’s recent decision to extend the implementation of the capital component of the 2024 federal budget until the end of 2025—with legislative endorsement—highlights a disturbing pattern of fiscal mismanagement that continues to undermine the nation’s development agenda. With this extension, both the 2024 and 2025 budgets will now operate concurrently, a practice that not only muddles the financial calendar but also raises fears that parts of the 2025 budget might spill over into 2026. This overlapping of budget cycles exposes the government’s persistent inability to execute financial plans within the constitutionally mandated timeframe.
Budgets are meant to be tools of order, efficiency, and measurable progress. They are crafted with specific timelines to ensure that public projects are delivered as scheduled and that government spending translates into real benefits for citizens. However, Nigeria’s experience is marked by chronic delays in budget implementation, missed revenue targets, and bloated spending proposals that have become the norm rather than the exception.
Unrealistic Budget Projections and Revenue Gaps
One of the major contributors to this dysfunction is the tendency to make overly optimistic revenue forecasts—particularly around oil benchmarks. For instance, the 2025 budget is built on a benchmark of $75 per barrel for crude oil, but the actual global price has remained below this figure for most of the year, only spiking briefly during the Israel-Iran conflict. In addition, the production benchmark is pegged at 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd), while Nigeria’s actual output has struggled to exceed 1.7 million bpd throughout 2025.
Such wide disparities between projections and reality result in predictable revenue shortfalls. When the expected income fails to materialize, the government is left scrambling to fund capital projects, often deferring them to the next fiscal year. This practice fuels a cycle of project delays, cost overruns due to inflation and shifting market dynamics, and ultimately, the poor delivery of services and infrastructure.
The Role of Dubious Budget Insertions
Exacerbating this issue is the recurring problem of unplanned insertions by lawmakers, which inflate budget estimates to unrealistic levels. These additions often serve political or personal interests rather than national priorities, and they distort the budget’s integrity. As a result, funds are thinly spread across too many projects—many of which are ill-conceived or duplicated—and the chances of full implementation become increasingly slim.
When the government is forced to extend budgets due to incomplete execution, the consequences are far-reaching. Public infrastructure projects, such as roads, schools, and hospitals, are left unfinished, eroding the public’s trust in government and hampering economic progress. The economic impact of such spending—expected to stimulate growth—is diluted when projects linger half-completed year after year.
A Mounting Debt Crisis
Another layer of concern is Nigeria’s rising public debt. As of the first quarter of 2025, the country’s total debt stock had ballooned to ₦149.39 trillion, reflecting a sharp increase of ₦27.72 trillion, or 22.8 per cent, from the same period in 2024. This alarming growth in debt is unsustainable, especially in the context of weak revenue generation and poor capital project execution.
Instead of relying heavily on borrowing to plug budget deficits, Nigeria needs a structural shift in fiscal strategy. This includes efforts to expand the revenue base by empowering the real sector, curbing import dependency, and attracting long-term investment to build a self-sufficient economy. The country must prioritize industrialization, diversify its revenue sources, and create a more robust taxation framework that doesn’t overburden citizens but instead harnesses opportunities from high-net-worth individuals and corporations.
Rethinking Budget Execution and Planning
Nigeria must break away from the culture of budget rollovers. The notion that every fiscal cycle must inherit the failures of its predecessor is a symptom of weak planning and poor governance. Instead of indiscriminately extending budgets, the government should focus on ensuring that partially executed projects are transparently transferred to the new budget with proper cost breakdowns and timelines, rather than lumped into new estimates that duplicate or abandon past efforts.
There is also a need to adopt conservative revenue projections that are grounded in economic reality, not political ambition. Fiscal plans should be realistic, executable, and based on current market trends and government capacity—not speculative figures intended to please stakeholders or international partners.
Transparency, Prudence, and Accountability Are Key
To rebuild public confidence in Nigeria’s budgeting process, transparency and accountability must become more than just political slogans. Every kobo allocated must be traceable. Ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) must be held accountable for funds disbursed, and regular performance audits should be mandatory.
Corruption remains a major impediment to sound fiscal management. Inflated contracts, ghost projects, and financial misappropriation have turned public budgets into avenues for looting rather than development. The fight against corruption must be comprehensive—spanning from procurement processes to project delivery and post-implementation monitoring.
Government Waste in the Face of Austerity
Ironically, even as Nigerians endure hardship due to high inflation, unemployment, and food insecurity, the federal government continues to indulge in extravagant spending. In 2024, the Presidential Air Fleet acquired a new aircraft worth $150 million, and the Vice President’s new official residence cost taxpayers ₦21 billion. Meanwhile, the legislature’s leadership convoy is valued at a staggering ₦7 billion—expenditures that starkly contrast with the government’s claims of fiscal constraints.
These spending patterns undermine the credibility of budget extensions. Why should citizens believe the government is serious about prudent fiscal management when resources are squandered on luxuries?
A Warning Sign, Not Business As Usual
The decision to extend the capital component of the 2024 budget into 2025 must not be normalized. It should serve as a wake-up call—a sign that Nigeria’s budgeting system is broken and in urgent need of reform. If delays and rollovers continue to be accepted as standard practice, the nation risks institutionalizing inefficiency, corruption, and stagnation.
Budgets must be time-bound, performance-driven, and citizen-focused. Capital projects should be prioritized based on national needs, not political considerations. And once allocated, funds must be disbursed promptly and spent judiciously.
Path to Fiscal Discipline and Sustainable Development
For Nigeria to achieve sustainable development, it must depart from the cycle of over-ambitious projections, delayed execution, and reckless borrowing. What is required is a disciplined, transparent, and results-oriented fiscal strategy—one that is rooted in realism and geared toward delivering measurable benefits for the population.
Citizens deserve better. They deserve roads that are built on time, hospitals that function, schools that are equipped, and an economy that works for all. Achieving these goals starts with fiscal responsibility—not just on paper but in practice.
Only then can Nigeria restore public trust, strengthen its institutions, and deliver on its development promises for present and future generations.
