BY CAROLINE AMEH
ABUJA – The National Assembly has directed the Ministry of Finance to withdraw all circulars on contract awards under the 2025 fiscal year, warning that no fresh approvals should be issued until new spending authorisations are released.
Lawmakers said that the ₦23.9 trillion capital component of the ₦54.99 trillion 2025 budget would not be fully implemented this year, but will roll over into the 2026 fiscal cycle.
The resolution, adopted at a joint sitting of the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations with the federal government’s economic team on Thursday, follows a similar decision reached by the House a day earlier.
Senate Appropriations Chairman, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Ogun West), said the rollover became necessary because the 2024 capital budget remains legally implementable until December 31, 2025.
He stressed that immediate steps must be taken to avoid further delays in project execution.
“The Ministry of Finance must issue the Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) within seven days to enable commencement of the 2025 capital projects. Circulars already sent to MDAs should be withdrawn pending the issuance of the AIE,” Adeola declared.
Present at the budget assessment session were Finance Minister Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu; Accountant General of the Federation, Samsudeen Ogunjimi; and Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu.
Although the lawmakers’ directive effectively alters the government’s project implementation calendar, none of the economic managers present objected.
The session later went behind closed doors to discuss details of the rollover.
