President blames low 2025 budget execution on transition and priority 2024 projects, sets strict revenue and digitisation targets for next year
President Bola Tinubu has disclosed that just 17 percent of the 2025 capital budget, equivalent to N3.1 trillion, was released by the third quarter (Q3), attributing the low implementation to the government’s focus on completing priority 2024 projects during the fiscal transition period.
Presenting the 2026 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Friday, Tinubu said that as of June 2025, N2.23 trillion had been released for 2024 capital projects following the extension of the 2024 budget execution to December 2025.
“The 2025 budget implementation faced the realities of transition and competing execution demands,” the president said.
Tinubu also reported revenue of N18.6 trillion for 2025, representing 61 percent of the target, and expenditure of N24.66 trillion, about 60 percent of the target.
“Let me be clear: 2026 will be a year of stronger discipline in budget execution,” he said, adding that directives have been issued to the Minister of Finance, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Accountant-General, and the Budget Office to ensure strict adherence to appropriated details and timelines.
The president said improved revenue performance is expected from the new National Tax Acts and ongoing reforms in the oil and gas sector, designed not only to boost revenue but also to enhance transparency, efficiency, and long-term fiscal sustainability.
Tinubu also instructed government-owned enterprises (GOEs) to meet their revenue targets, unveiling plans for end-to-end digitisation of revenue mobilisation. The initiative will feature standardised e-collections, interoperable payment systems, automated reconciliation, real-time performance dashboards, and data-driven risk profiling to curb leakages and ensure timely remittances.
“Heads of all GOEs are hereby directed to meet their assigned revenue targets. These targets will form core components of performance evaluations and institutional scorecards,” he said.
The president emphasised that Nigeria can no longer afford inefficiencies or underperformance in strategic agencies, stressing that every institution must contribute to fiscal discipline.
Meanwhile, the Senate on Wednesday reviewed a bill to repeal and re-enact the 2024/2025 Appropriations Acts, proposing a revised 2024 budget of N43.56 trillion. Earlier on Friday, Tinubu transmitted the Appropriation, Repeal, and Re-enactment Bill 2024 to the National Assembly for consideration.
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