Photo Credit: The Punch
2025-12-25 09:05:00
Reporting by The Punch indicates Nigeria’s National Assembly has extended the 2025 fiscal year timeline to allow more time for budget implementation, amid delays in budget passage and execution. The move is framed as a pragmatic reset to reduce the usual year-end rush that leaves capital spending under-delivered.
The extension is tied to the broader issue of late appropriation cycles, where projects start too late in the year and MDAs struggle to complete procurement and releases before the fiscal window closes. Supporters say it improves planning realism; critics worry it normalizes delays.
In practical terms, the extension gives ministries and agencies more runway to draw down releases and push ongoing capital projects, especially where procurement timelines already spilled beyond the calendar year.
In related coverage, Vanguard quoted Senate President Godswill Akpabio describing the measure as a “major transformative step,” while Premium Times reported that the extension is aimed at “ensuring the full release and utilisation of budgeted funds for capital projects.”
Echotitbits take: The real test is whether the extra months translate into measurable capital delivery—not just paperwork. Watch Q1 2026 releases and project milestones, plus whether the executive also reforms procurement bottlenecks that routinely delay project starts.
Source: The Punch — December 25, 2025 (https://punchng.com/budget-crisis-nass-extends-2025-fiscal-year-to-march/)
The Punch 2025-12-25
