The Senate has kicked against the implementation of multiple federal budgets within a single fiscal year, describing the practice as unacceptable and unsustainable.
Lawmakers raised the concern on Monday during an interactive session between the Senate Committee on Finance and key economic managers of the government over the 2026–2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
At the meeting, the committee directed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to increase its proposed ₦31 trillion revenue target for 2026 to ₦35 trillion, as the federal government disclosed a major revenue shortfall in the 2025 fiscal year.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, told the committee that while revenue projections for the 2024 budget were fully met, the 2025 budget had fallen significantly short.
According to him, of the ₦40 trillion revenue target for 2025, only ₦10 trillion has been realised so far, leaving a ₦30 trillion shortfall.
The shortfall, he said, has forced the Federal Government to roll over about 70 per cent of capital projects captured in the 2025 budget into 2026.
The disclosure drew sharp reactions from several senators, including Danjuma Goje, Olalere Oyewumi, Victor Umeh, Aminu Abbas, and Ireti Kingibe, who criticised the recurring practice of overlapping budget implementation.
Senator Goje said implementing multiple budgets in a single year was unacceptable to Nigerians and urged the government to normalise budget execution from 2026. Senator Oyewumi added that the government should present realistic revenue projections to avoid repeated rollovers.
Some lawmakers also questioned why approved borrowings were not used to bridge revenue gaps.
Responding, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, assured Nigerians that budget projections and implementation would be stabilised from 2026. He also announced plans to set up a three-man ad hoc committee to liaise with the Minister of Finance and the Accountant-General of the Federation on settling payments owed to local contractors for 2024 projects.
The committee further tasked FIRS Chairman, Zacch Adedeji, to work towards achieving a ₦35 trillion revenue target in 2026. Adedeji disclosed that the agency generated ₦20.2 trillion in 2024 and ₦25.2 trillion in 2025, but said revenue gains were weakened by the burden of multiple budget cycles.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, alongside the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, defended the assumptions for the proposed ₦54.4 trillion 2026 budget, including oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, an oil price benchmark of $64.85, and an exchange rate of ₦1,512 to the dollar.
