Repeal, re-enactment of 2024, 2025 Appropriation Acts to enhance transparency – Rep

Deputy Spokesperson of House of Representatives, Rep. Philip Agbese, says the repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts was aimed at enhancing transparency and easing implementation challenges.

Agbese, who stated this at a news conference in Abuja on Friday, said it was to align Nigeria’s budgeting framework with global best practices.

He explained that the lawmakers took the step to strengthen accountability at all levels of government while reducing the oversight burden that typically trailed budget execution.

According to him, the repeal and re-enactment will help streamline the country’s fiscal process by ensuring a more coherent and predictable funding structure.

“Basically, it is to align the nation’s budgeting system with global and international best practices.

“It is also to ensure transparency and accountability at all levels and to lessen the burden of oversight during implementation,” he said.

The lawmaker said that the decision would also pave the way for a single national budget cycle after March 31, 2026, a move he described as critical to seamless execution by the executive arm.

He commended the Rep. Abubakar Bichi-led House Committee on Appropriations for its diligent and prompt work on the re-enactment bill transmitted to the house by President Bola Tinubu.

He said that the committee’s promptness paved the way for the eventual consideration and passage of the bill before the lawmakers proceeded on their Christmas and New Year holidays.

Agbese said that the work of the committee had further helped in addressing the issue of running multiple budgets in the country.

He said that running multiple budgets would lead to fiscal confusion and dissipation of government finances in the execution of multiple projects, leading to poor outcome.

The deputy spokesman said that the abysmally low performance of the 2025 capital budget was due to the running of multiple budgets.

“By adopting a single budget after March 31, 2026, the executive will be able to execute the budget without much hassle.

“When there is a single funding system, it becomes easier to manage cash flow and ensure timely releases,” he said.

Agbese commended the president for providing leadership that supports fiscal reforms, describing the Tinubu’s commitment to budget discipline and economic stability as reassuring.

“This is research, a very hard one. Avoiding abandoned projects, unpaid contractual obligations and running multiple budgets, both inherited and of fulfilled mandates, is a problem staring the nation in the face.

“So we are terminating the habit of running through a budget on one inflow. By March 31, 2026, all capital liabilities from previous years will be fully funded and closed. No overlaps, no excuses and no rollover cultures,” he said.

Agbese described Tinubu as a listening leader, committed to ending multiple budgets in response to calls by lawmakers and other experts who had spoken against the running of multiple budgets, often leading to fiscal indiscipline.

The lawmaker also passed a vote of confidence in the president’s economic team, particularly the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, lauding them for taking time to develop a budget framework.

“We want to commend the economic team, especially the budget and planning ministry, for putting together a budget plan that reflects the nation’s reality and the economic interests of the various segments of our society,” he said.

Agbese reaffirmed the unflinching commitment of the house to reforms that would strengthen public finance management, improve service delivery and restore public confidence in the budgeting process.