The Nigerian Senate has approved an extension of the implementation period for the capital part of the 2025 budget, moving the deadline from June 30 to September 30, 2026.
The decision is meant to give Ministries, Departments and Agencies more time to complete ongoing projects and fully use funds already released by the government.
The approval came during Thursday’s sitting after a motion was presented and debated by lawmakers.
The Senate temporarily set aside its normal rules to quickly consider the request, showing concern about delays affecting budget execution across federal agencies.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele led the discussion and explained that many projects under the 2025 budget were moving slowly due to delays in procurement processes, administrative procedures and other operational challenges.
He said these issues had affected the pace of work even though funds had already been released for many projects.
He added that the budget was designed to support government programmes in areas such as infrastructure, security and social welfare, but a large part of the first tranche of funding was still unused because of bottlenecks in implementation.
According to him, more time was needed to allow projects already underway to reach completion.
Bamidele also warned that without an extension, several ongoing capital projects could be left unfinished, leading to waste of public funds and disruption of government plans in different sectors.
He noted that many of the projects were already at advanced stages and required extra time for completion, certification and payment processes.
After contributions from other senators, Senate President Godswill Akpabio put the request to a voice vote, and it was approved by most lawmakers present. The Senate then agreed to amend the 2025 Appropriation Act to reflect the new deadline.
Lawmakers who supported the move said the extension would help improve how the budget is implemented and ensure that ongoing projects are completed instead of being abandoned midway. They also said it would help reduce waste and improve the use of public funds.
The resolution will now be sent to the House of Representatives for approval before it becomes effective. Once finalized, ministries and agencies will have until September 30, 2026, to finish work on capital projects under the 2025 budget.
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