…Admits violation of Fiscal Responsibility Act
The Budget Office says it will release the full-year 2024 Budget performance report by the end of September 2025, breaking its year-long silence on the status of federal spending disclosures and admitting it violated provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
The update comes after BusinessDay reported last week that the Office had failed to publish any Budget Implementation Reports (BIRs) since the second quarter of 2024—marking a major lapse in the country’s public finance transparency obligations.
In a statement released Friday, the Budget Office acknowledged the delay and said it was working to close the information gap. “We acknowledge this statutory obligation and remain committed to both the letter and the spirit of the law: accuracy, timeliness, and credibility in public finance,” it said.
The Office attributed the delay to what it called an “exceptional budget cycle,” pointing to extended project verification and Nigeria’s transition to a longer budget execution timeline. “This delay should not be seen as backsliding, but as a reflection of the care taken to ensure accuracy and credibility in Nigeria’s fiscal reporting,” it said.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act requires the Budget Office to publish quarterly BIRs that outline the government’s fiscal performance, including spending, revenue collection, and project execution. However, the Office has not issued any report since the first quarter of 2024, raising concerns among analysts, investors, and civil society groups about compliance and data reliability.
According to the statement, physical verification of projects nationwide and reconciliation of expenditure with implementing agencies took longer than expected. “BIRs are not merely accounting summaries; they integrate expenditure data with physical verification of projects nationwide,” the Office said.
The timeline was further affected by Nigeria’s shift to an extended budget framework, which lengthened the implementation period and changed the government’s reporting rhythm. Officials said they opted not to publish reports on the old calendar to avoid producing “conflicting datasets” during a time of transition.
To restore compliance, the Budget Office said it will publish a provisional full-year 2024 Budget Performance Report by the end of September. That will be followed by consolidated reports for the first and second quarters of 2025, which are already overdue. From the third quarter onward, the Office says it will resume timely publication of quarterly reports.
“By the end of September 2025, we will publish the full-year 2024 Budget Performance Report alongside the outstanding Q1–Q2 2025 reports, after which quarterly releases will resume on schedule,” the Office said in the statement provided to the media.
Beyond the catch-up reports, the Office said it is upgrading its internal systems to ensure future releases are both timely and accurate. Measures include strengthening data collection from ministries and agencies, integrating digital monitoring tools, and expanding collaboration across federal institutions.
The government, it added, remains “resolutely committed” to restoring credibility in Nigeria’s fiscal reporting process. “The Federal Government remains resolutely committed to upholding Nigeria’s credibility with citizens, markets, and partners by publishing credible, accurate data,” the statement said.
The delay has drawn attention at a time when Nigeria is under pressure to show fiscal discipline and transparency amid persistent revenue shortfalls, subsidy burdens, and rising debt service costs.
Analysts, like BudgIT, a civic-tech organisation say the absence of performance data has weakened oversight and complicated economic forecasting.
