In a series of revelations that could see Nigeria’s 2026 capital budget remain unimplemented, the Federal Government is reportedly set to roll over the entire 2024‑25 capital expenditure into the 2026 fiscal year. The move would extend the lifespan of the capital budget beyond the current year, forcing further extensions across multiple fiscal years.
A senior official at the Budget Office of the Federation told Financial Vanguard that the “roll‑over is normal.” Vanguard’s investigation shows that the 2024 and 2025 capital budgets were released at less than 50 % of the allocated amounts, a shortfall that has prompted the government to carry forward the remaining funds. The second roll‑over, which expired on 30 September 2026, involved a transfer of about N16.8 trillion of capital expenditure into the 2026 budget.
The N16.8 trillion forms the bulk of the N32.3 trillion capital budget for 2026. Vanguard reports that the remaining N15.5 trillion earmarked for 2026 cannot be spent because of the outstanding commitments from the previous two years.
House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Bichi, disclosed that N16.765 trillion had to be stripped from the capital allocation and rolled over into 2026 “due to funding constraints.” The committee met with Finance Minister Wale Edun, Budget Minister Atiku Bagudu and Budget Office Director‑General Tanimu Yakubu to investigate the delay. By April 2026, the committee confirmed that N32 trillion of the N68.323 trillion 2026 budget was earmarked for capital expenditure, with a portion set to “regularise” outstanding 2025 obligations.
In June 2026, Majority Leader Julius Ihonvbere announced that “substantial funds released to Ministries, Departments and Agencies remained unspent due to administrative bottlenecks, procurement delays and implementation challenges.” Speaker Tajudeen Abbas backed the extension, noting that the funds had “yet to be fully implemented.”
During the 2026 budget defence session in February, the Committee on Healthcare Services, chaired by Hon. Amos Gwamna Magaji, heard from Coordinating Minister of Health Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate that only N36 million of the N218 billion allocated for 2025 capital projects had been released and none had been utilised. Pate blamed the “Bottom‑Up Cash Plan” policy of the Office of the Accountant‑General of the Federation and delays in donor contributions. Magaji demanded full documentation of donor funds and a detailed account of their use, signalling a parallel inquiry into off‑budget spending.
The House Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Hon. Bamidele Salam, has taken a punitive stance. In February 2026, after an investigative hearing, the committee recommended excluding 22 MDAs—including the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Federal Housing Authority, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, National Insurance Commission and National Business and Technical Examinations Board—from the 2026 budget process. The exclusion follows their persistent failure to account for public funds and respond to Auditor‑General audit queries for 2020, 2021 and 2022, as well as repeated non‑submission of audited financial statements for three to five years.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
