Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr Tanimu Yakubu, has provided an insight into why the country is running multiple budgets.
According to him, Nigeria is currently operating three budget instruments at once.
These include the 2024 Main Appropriation Act, the 2024 Supplementary Budget, and the 2025 Appropriation Act.
Daily Trust reports that the National Assembly on Tuesday approved the extension of the implementation of the 2024 budget to December. It was earlier meant to elapse by the end of June.
While providing an insight into the development, the DG stated that while the multiple budgets may raise eyebrows, “It is not a fiscal anomaly.”
He said, “It reflects the real-world overlap between budget law, execution delays, and system-wide reform efforts.”
He explained that the 2024 Appropriation Act, signed in January 2024, remains valid through December 31, 2024, unless formally repealed or extended, adding, “It is the primary legal framework for federal spending in 2024 and remains active—especially for capital projects, statutory obligations, and contracts tied to 2024 project codes.”
He added that the 2024 Supplementary Appropriation Act, passed mid-year, was designed to address: Escalating security and humanitarian demands; Revenue windfalls or reallocations and Emerging economic shocks and sectoral urgencies not accounted for in the main budget.
“As is standard in public finance, a supplementary budget amends or extends the main budget. It runs concurrently—not as a duplicate, but as a legal and fiscal continuation,” he added.
According to him, the 2025 budget has started—but not everything rolled over cleanly.
Although the 2025 Appropriation Act was signed before the end of 2024—part of efforts to maintain the January–December budget cycle—the transition hasn’t been seamless.
He said, “The presence of multiple concurrent budgets does not imply fiscal confusion. It reflects a performance-based, transitional budget system where:
“The 2025 budget is being implemented in earnest, while residuals from the 2024 and Supplementary Budgets are lawfully closed out and disbursed. This is part of building a more agile and accountable public finance framework.
“The real issue is not the existence of three budgets, but the coordination and transparency of their execution.”
