Nigeria’s federal government plans to carry projects left incomplete under the 2026 budget, along with unpaid spending commitments, into the 2027 fiscal year, Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said, as it seeks to stop running several budgets at the same time.
Oyedele said the finance ministry is working with the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and the Budget Office of the Federation to rework the budgeting process and adopt a more realistic framework from 2027. He said the government accepts it can do better on budgeting and that the changes should be visible in how the 2027 plan is prepared and carried out.
The announcement follows legislative approval of a fourth extension of the 2025 capital budget, which now runs to Dec. 31, 2026. The extension gives ministries, departments and agencies more time to finish projects funded under the 2025 Appropriation Act.
The government has struggled for years to close out capital spending within the budget year. Lawmakers said earlier in 2026 that about 70% of capital projects in the 2025 budget were hit by revenue shortfalls. The Senate passed a 68.3 trillion naira 2026 budget on March 31.
President Bola Tinubu said when he presented the 2026 proposal on Dec. 19, 2025 that capital liabilities inherited from earlier years would be funded and closed by March 31, 2026. He had also promised a single-budget system from April 2026. That timetable has since slipped.
Oyedele said the government hopes to submit the 2027 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly before the new fiscal year begins, but he could not guarantee the legislative schedule.
The reports reviewed gave no figure for the value of projects to be carried over, and the plan does not by itself set out when contractors will be paid or when stalled projects will be completed.
