NASS Extends 2025 Budget Lifespan to March 2026, Slashes Spending by ₦6tn as Tinubu Moves to Cure ‘Chronic Overlapping’ of National Accounts

Nigeria’s fiscal calendar has been officially redrawn as the National Assembly approved a sweeping extension of the 2025 budget implementation period to March 31, 2026, in a bid to rescue capital projects stalled by revenue shortfalls.

The decision was reached during marathon plenary sessions in both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday, December 23, 2025. The move followed a high-stakes request from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who sought to “repeal and re-enact” both the 2024 and 2025 budgets to align the nation’s spending with its actual income and execution capacity.

Under the newly approved framework, the 2025 Appropriation Act originally set at a record ₦54.99 trillion has been scaled back to ₦48.31 trillion. Lawmakers explained that the ₦6.67 trillion reduction was necessitated by “funding constraints” and the need to ensure that the budget remains credible rather than purely aspirational. To manage this gap, a massive ₦16.76 trillion in capital projects has been formally deferred to the 2026 fiscal year.

“We are ending the era of multiple budgets running at the same time,” stated Senator Solomon Adeola, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. “Running the 2024 budget deep into 2025 while the 2025 budget is also in force weakens our oversight and confuses the public. This extension to March 31 provides a clean cutoff and gives MDAs the time they need to access their 30% capital releases.”

The 2024 budget also saw a major adjustment, jumping from ₦35.05 trillion to ₦43.56 trillion. Officials clarified that this ₦8.5 trillion “injection” was required to cover emergency spending on security, humanitarian crises, and economic palliatives that arose throughout the year.

The “Budget of Consolidation” (2026), which was presented by the President just days ago, will now wait for the 2025 cycle to conclude in March before it becomes the sole operating document. Lawmakers admitted that while “rolling budget cycles” indicate deeper issues in fiscal management, the current economic climate made the extension “unavoidable” to prevent the total abandonment of critical infrastructure projects.

With the legislative work completed, the National Assembly has adjourned for the festive break, with members expected to return on January 27, 2026, to begin the intensive defense of the 2026 budget proposals.