As the National Assembly considers the 2026 Federal Government’s budget, a non-governmental organisation, BudgIT Nigeria, has recommended sweeping reforms to strengthen fiscal discipline, enhance transparency, and make a developmental impact on Nigeria’s public finance system.

In a policy memo submitted to the National Assembly on the proposed 2026 federal budget yesterday, BudgIT presented seven key recommendations designed to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s budget process by strengthening oversight, promote realism in revenue projections, safeguard debt sustainability, ensure transparency in budget implementation and procurement processes, and prevent the structural over-extension of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

As part of efforts towards strengthening the country’s fiscal framework, the document called for a well-detailed and clear information on all MDAs and their respective allocations.

It lamented the inconsistencies and vagueness in the description of projects in the document. The report cited recurring vague budget entries under the Federal Ministry of Education as evidence of transparency gaps in the proposed 2026 budget.

The document read: “Under the Federal Ministry of Education, most federal universities are listed by name and corresponding codes (e.g., University of Ibadan, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, etc.), which allows citizens and lawmakers to track allocations and performance. However, there exist entries with code 0517021021 and 0517021033, simply described as “University of” and “Federal University” respectively.

The memo urged the lawmakers to institutionalise a strict timetable for the approval of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) before passing the Appropriation Bill.

According to the proposal, aligning the MTEF with the January–December fiscal year would prevent overlapping budget cycles that could cause fiscal confusion.

The document also urged the lawmakers to mandate all ministries to provide clear and detailed descriptions for capital line items, aimed at eliminating vague descriptors that obscure project intentions and funding justifications in a way that ensures standardising project reporting, stakeholders, including lawmakers and the public, can better assess the relevance and necessity of proposed initiatives.

To strengthen fiscal compliance, the memo recommended the establishment of a Review Committee for Fiscal Compliance within the National Assemblyto scrutinise budget allocations, ensure that only those with legitimate justification receive funding, thereby helping to prevent financial misallocation and misuse of resources.

In addition, the memo proposed the development of a centralised procurement portal to publish quarterly budget releases and project implementation updates across MDAs, and sanctions for MDAs that fail to utilise the portal.

Also, the policy document called for stronger transparency in the use of Service-Wide Votes and statutory funds, urging the lawmakers to define clear disbursement criteria, require public disclosure of beneficiaries and enforce stricter justification standards for urgent expenditures.

The policy tasked the National Assembly to streamline the mandates of MDAs to eliminate duplication and reduce the cost of governance.