Get Guardian on GoogleA coalition of civil society organisations has raised serious concerns regarding perceived constitutional breaches in the recent repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts, a move carried out by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly (NASS).
In a joint statement, the organisations expressed dismay over the alleged lack of transparency and public participation in the federal budgeting process.
They noted that “Eighteen days after the federal executive budget presentation, the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) and NASS have failed to upload it to their websites.”
In a statement signed by Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and the Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative, (PLSI), BudgIT and Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, (PRIMORG), the group highlighted that the approved bills for the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts are not available on any electronic portal and lamented the absence of opportunities for public engagement in their consideration.
Part of the statement reads thus: “These breaches raise fundamental questions about the management of public revenues and expenditure.”
They referenced specific sections of the Nigerian Constitution, for example, “Section 81 explicitly mandates the submission of expenditure proposals by the President to NASS for prior approval before public expenditure is incurred.”
Furthermore, they called into question the extension of the 2024 Appropriation Act’s lifespan to December 2025, stating, “This is a legal and constitutional impossibility and can only happen in a country where the rule of law is continuously desecrated.”
The organisations criticised the increase of the budget size from ₦35.05 trillion to ₦43.56 trillion, terming it an “affront to the fiscal provisions of the Constitution” when it lacks legislative approval.
They indicated that this could lead to impeachable offences, warning that “Unbudgeted expenditure not incurred in accordance with constitutional stipulations is an impeachable offence.”
They CSOs called for several actions from the government, including ensuring no expenditure occurs without proper appropriation, an unconditional guarantee from the President to adhere to constitutional spending stipulations and the immediate publication of the 2026 federal budget estimates online.
The group also called for the publication of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bills and the corresponding Acts, as well as a commitment to fiscal transparency and public participation in fiscal governance.
