A coalition of Nigerian civil society organisations has raised alarm over what it described as “fiscal rascality” in the repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts, accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly of constitutional and legal breaches.
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 groups faulted the executive and legislature for opaque budgeting practices, lack of transparency and the exclusion of citizens from the federal budget process. They 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 uploaded the documents on their official websites.
The organisations also noted that the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts (Repeal and Re-enactment) bills recently approved by the National Assembly were not publicly accessible, denying 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 require prior legislative approval before public expenditure is incurred. They argued that legislative endorsement of already incurred expenditure undermines the rule of law and fiscal accountability.
They further criticised 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 subsequent repeal and re-enactment of the budget as unconstitutional. The groups noted that the total size of the 2024 budget was increased from ₦35.05 trillion to ₦43.56 trillion after its expiration, which they said amounted to spending about ₦8 trillion without prior legislative approval.
The civil society organisations also rejected claims by the National Assembly that the repeal and re-enactment of the budgets aligned with global best practices, insisting such actions had no basis in Nigerian fiscal laws or international standards.
Citing Section 48(1) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the groups said the refusal to publish budget documents violated legal requirements on transparency, timely disclosure and public participation in fiscal governance.
They demanded an immediate halt to unappropriated expenditure, an unconditional commitment by the President 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 websites of the Budget Office of the Federation and the National Assembly.
