A coalition of Nigerian civil society organisations has raised serious concerns over what it described as “fiscal rascality” in the repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts, accusing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly of violating constitutional and legal provisions governing public finance.
The concerns were contained in a media statement issued on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, by the Nigerian Civil Society Economy Action, a coalition comprising the Centre for Social Justice, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, PRIMEORG, PLSI and BudgIT.
In the statement, the coalition faulted both the executive and the legislature for what it described as opaque budgeting practices, lack of transparency and the systematic exclusion of citizens from the federal budget process. The groups expressed concern that more than two weeks after the presentation of the 2026 budget estimates, neither the Budget Office of the Federation nor the National Assembly had published the documents on their official websites.
They also criticised the National Assembly for approving the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts (Repeal and Re-enactment) bills without making the documents publicly accessible, a development they said denied Nigerians the opportunity for popular participation in the budgeting process.
According to the coalition, the actions of government authorities violated Sections 80 and 81 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which mandate prior legislative approval before public funds are expended. They argued that endorsing expenditure already incurred undermines the rule of law and weakens fiscal accountability.
The organisations further condemned the extension of the lifespan of the 2024 Appropriation Act beyond December 31, 2024—first to June 2025 and later to December 2025—describing the eventual repeal and re-enactment of the budget as unconstitutional. They noted that the size of the 2024 budget was increased from ₦35.05 trillion to ₦43.56 trillion after its expiration, alleging that about ₦8 trillion was spent without prior legislative approval.
The coalition also rejected claims by the National Assembly that the repeal and re-enactment of the budgets were in line with global best practices, insisting that such actions had no basis in Nigerian fiscal laws or internationally accepted standards.
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Citing Section 48(1) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the groups said the failure to publish budget documents violated legal requirements on transparency, timely disclosure and public participation in fiscal governance.
They therefore demanded an immediate halt to all unappropriated expenditure, an unconditional commitment by President Tinubu to strictly adhere to constitutional spending limits, and the immediate publication of the 2026 budget estimates, as well as the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts, on the official websites of the Budget Office of the Federation and the National Assembly.
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