The National Assembly has annonced that the implementation of the 2024 Appropriation Act will be extended to June 2025.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio announced this on Wednesday at the presentation of the 2025 budget.
In his speech, Mr Akpabio announced that the National Assembly has commenced the process to extend the budget implementation till June 2025.
He stated that the extension would soon be deliberated upon and presented to the president for assent.
President Bola Tinubu is currently at the joint session of the National Assembly to present the 2025 budget.
The budget presentation will be Tinubu’s second budget estimate to the National Assembly having assumed office on May 29 2023.
The Federal Executive Council on Monday, approved the N47.96tn budget estimate for the 2025 fiscal year.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions, Osita Izunaso (APC, Imo West), noted that the late submission of the budget makes its passage within the year unfeasible.
Isunazo said, “The budget is coming late. Today is December 18, so we will lose that culture of beginning a new year with a new budget. Nevertheless, the budget has a lifespan of 12 months.
“So whenever we pass it, it will have a lifespan of 12 months. Even after 12 months, we still have the liberty to extend it. In fact, we are extending the 2024 budget today.
“But that culture of starting on the 1st of January, we have lost it. The executive ought to have brought this budget way before now. But I believe that maybe they are putting things together.
“They wouldn’t want to delay deliberately bringing the budget to the National Assembly. So I’m saying that that is not a problem, but we have lost that culture.”
The 9th National Assembly in 2020 introduced the January-December budget cycle during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari as a strategy to enhance budget performance.