NASS to extend 2024 budget cycle as Tinubu delays 2025 presentation

The National Assembly is set to extend the 2024 budget cycle following delays in the presentation of the 2025 budget by President Bola Tinubu.

The 2025 budget, valued at N47.9 trillion, is now scheduled to be presented to a joint session of the National Assembly at 12:00 pm.
However, due to the late submission, it will not be passed before the year ends.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions, Senator Osita Izunaso, has explained that the delayed submission of the budget makes it impossible for it to be passed by the end of December 2024.

He noted that while the 2024 budget will be extended, the tradition of starting a new year with a new budget has been lost.
“The budget has a lifespan of 12 months, and we still have the liberty to extend it,” he said.

He added that while the late submission was unfortunate, it was not a major issue, though it did disrupt the regular budget cycle.
This delay marks a departure from the reforms implemented by the 9th National Assembly in 2020, which shifted Nigeria’s budget cycle from June-May to January-December to enhance budget planning and performance.

Former Senate President Ahmad Lawan stated that the shift to a January-December cycle would improve the effective implementation of the country’s macroeconomic framework.

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President Tinubu emphasized the importance of adhering to the January-December budget cycle during the presentation of the 2024 budget in November.

He urged lawmakers to ensure the timely passage of the budget, to make it effective from January 1, 2024. However, with the delayed submission of the 2025 budget, the timeline will now stretch into the next year.

The Senate and the House of Representatives are currently in separate closed-door sessions.

Officials, including the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), are present at the National Assembly for the ongoing deliberations.