President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Appropriation (Amendment) (No. 4) Bill, 2025, into law, extending the implementation period of the 2025 budget from September 30 to December 31, 2026.
The extension follows the swift passage of the amendment by both chambers of the National Assembly on Tuesday, September 29. The latest extension applies to the capital component of the 2025 budget and gives Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) additional time to execute projects covered by existing appropriations.
The National Assembly’s decision marks the fourth extension of the implementation timeline for the capital component of the 2025 budget. The deadline had previously been moved from December 2025 to March 2026, then to June, and later to September 30.
According to the Presidency, the latest extension is intended to allow government agencies to complete ongoing capital projects and ensure that funds already appropriated are utilised for their intended purposes.
The State House said the move would help prevent disruption to critical programmes and enable MDAs to consolidate projects that are already underway.
President Tinubu also commended the leadership and members of the National Assembly for their prompt consideration and passage of the amendment, describing the cooperation between the Executive and Legislature as important to the administration of government.
The latest extension comes several months after the President had assented to an earlier amendment extending the 2025 budget implementation period to June 30, 2026. At the time, the Presidency said the extension was necessary to allow the completion of ongoing infrastructure and development projects.
The repeated extensions have, however, remained part of a wider debate over Nigeria’s budget cycle and the practice of carrying capital projects from one fiscal period into another. In June, Premium Times reported that lawmakers’ decision to extend the 2025 budget came despite earlier assurances from the Tinubu administration that Nigeria would move away from overlapping budget cycles.
With the latest amendment now signed into law, the 2025 capital budget will remain operational until December 31, 2026, allowing the Federal Government additional time to implement projects and utilise the funds already approved for them.
