A group of civil society organisations under the aegis of Nigerian Civil Society Economy Action (NCSEA) has called on the National Assembly (NASS) to ensure that the executive does not incur any expenditure without appropriation.

The group, in its call against fiscal rascality on the part of the Federal Government, raised concerns over the recent repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 and 2025 appropriation acts by the National Assembly, which it considers a constitutional breach.

The group, including the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), PRIMEORG, Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI) and BudgIT, in a statement, complained about the opacity, lack of transparency and popular participation in the federal budgeting process.

According to the group, 18 days after the presentation of the 2026 budget, the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) and the NASS failed to upload it to their websites.

“The 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, which has been approved by NASS, is not available to Nigerians on any electronic portal and there was no opportunity for popular participation in the consideration and re-enactment of the act,” the group said.

It observed that the breaches raise fundamental questions about the management of public revenues and expenditure and the responsiveness of the executive and legislature to the fiscal stipulations of the Constitution and the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA).

“We recall that Section 81 of the Constitution explicitly provides for the submission of expenditure proposals by the President to NASS and prior approval of the NASS before public expenditure is incurred.

“This is further buttressed by Section 80 (2), (3) and (4) of the Constitution. These provisions inform the yearly submission of executive budget proposals to NASS for approval and their in-year amendment if the need arises.

“Essentially, expenditure must be based on prior legislative approval and not legislative endorsement of already incurred expenditure. The 2024 Appropriation Act should have expired on December 31, 2024, but NASS purported to extend the life span to June 2025 and later to December 2025. Even in its extended lifespan, the executive failed to implement the 2024 budget in accordance with its tenor and now that the extended life has ended, the President sought to repeal and re-enact the Act, increasing the total budget size from N35.05 trillion to N43.56 trillion.

“A budget is not arbitrarily reviewed in December when its life should end. We recall that NASS stated that the decision to repeal and re-enact the 2024 and 2025 appropriation acts was taken to align Nigeria’s budgeting process with global best practices, enhance transparency and resolve implementation challenges associated with running multiple budgets.

“This position of NASS cannot be supported by Nigerian fiscal laws and policies or any international best practice. Rather, it is a mismanagement and gross abuse of due process and our fiscal laws,” it noted.