2025 Budget Extension Will Affect Public Investment, Fiscal Planning – DLA

The Democratic and Leadership Alliance (DLA) has raised concerns over the decision by the National Assembly to extend the implementation of the capital component of the 2025 budget to December 31, 2026, warning that repeated budget rollovers could create uncertainty for public investment and fiscal planning.

The Alliance noted that from a business perspective, prolonged budget implementation can affect the timing of government contracts, infrastructure spending and payments to contractors, while also making it harder for businesses dependent on public projects to forecast demand and cash flows.

The DLA said Nigerians should demand greater transparency over budget execution and public borrowing, while urging stronger fiscal discipline in the management of national resources.

Its also criticised the President Bola Tinubu administration’s economic management.

Recall that the House of Representatives and the Senate approved the latest extension on Tuesday, moving the deadline from September 30 to December 31, 2026. It is the fourth extension of the 2025 capital budget implementation period. Lawmakers said the extension was necessary to enable ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) complete capital projects for which funds had been appropriated and released.

Reacting to this in a statement signed by the head of media and publicity of the DLA, Dr Tosin Odeyemi, the Alliance said the development raised questions about the government’s ability to execute approved spending plans within the intended fiscal cycle.

Odeyemi said the party was particularly concerned about the implications of delayed capital spending for infrastructure development, public procurement and economic activity, arguing that prolonged implementation periods could make it difficult for businesses and investors to plan around government-funded projects.

The DLA also questioned the level of funding available for previous budgets and called on the federal government to account for revenues received and expenditure undertaken during the period.

“ We are more concerned that this is the fourth time the implementation of this same budget has been extended,” Odeyemi said.

He argued that continued extensions could result in overlapping budget cycles and weaken fiscal accountability.

The Alliance further said that delays in implementing capital budgets could have implications for the 2026 fiscal framework, although the government’s approved 2026 budget provides ₦26.08 trillion for capital expenditure, within total expenditure of ₦58.18 trillion.

Recall that the government’s own 2026 budget speech acknowledged implementation pressures in 2025.

President Tinubu had said that by the third quarter of 2025, only ₦3.10 trillion, representing about 17.7 per cent of the 2025 capital budget, had been released, partly because priority 2024 capital projects were being completed during the transition period.