The National Assembly of Nigeria has announced plans to extend the 2024 budget cycle.
This decision comes in response to the delayed submission of the 2025 budget by President Bola Tinubu, which has made it unfeasible to pass the new budget within the current year.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions, Osita Izunaso, expressed concerns over the timing, stating, “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.”
This extension marks a departure from the January-December budget cycle that was introduced by the 9th National Assembly in 2020 under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The shift from the previous June-May cycle was intended to enhance budget performance and improve macroeconomic planning.
Despite President Tinubu's earlier commitment to maintaining the January-December cycle, the delay has necessitated this extension.
During the presentation of the 2024 budget on November 29, 2023, Tinubu had emphasized the importance of timely passage, urging lawmakers to ensure the Appropriation Act would take effect on January 1. “I am confident that the National Assembly will continue to work closely with us to ensure that deliberations on the 2024 budget are thorough and concluded with reasonable dispatch,” he stated.
Present at the National Assembly during these discussions were key figures such as the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari.
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