The Federal Government has defended the re-enactment of the 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts, dismissing allegations of constitutional breach and fiscal illegality surrounding the move.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, said the re-enactment carried out by the National Assembly was in line with existing laws and fiscal procedures. He stressed that claims suggesting otherwise were misleading and unfounded.
Yakubu’s clarification followed criticism from the Nigerian Civil Society Economy Action (NiCSEA), a coalition of civil society organisations, which accused both the executive and legislative arms of government of operating with opacity and excluding citizens from the budgetary process.
According to the coalition, running overlapping national budgets remains a fiscal anomaly that undermines transparency, accountability, and effective financial management. BudgIT, a leading accountability group within the coalition, argued that such practices weaken public trust and make it difficult for citizens to track government spending.
NiCSEA is made up of BudgIT, the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), the Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), and PRIMORG.
While the Federal Government maintains that the re-enactment is constitutionally sound and necessary for governance continuity, civil society groups continue to call for greater transparency, citizen participation, and clearer fiscal practices in Nigeria’s budget process.
