Senate rejects multiple budgets, orders FIRS to raise revenue target to N35tn

The Senate Committee on Finance has criticised the Federal Government’s practice of implementing multiple budgets within a single fiscal year, warning that the trend undermines fiscal discipline, erodes public confidence, and hampers effective economic planning.

The concern was raised on Monday during an interactive session with key economic managers on the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.

As part of its resolutions, the committee directed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to increase its projected revenue target for 2026 from N31tn to N35tn, even as the Federal Government disclosed a N30tn shortfall from its N40tn revenue projection for the 2025 budget.

Committee chairman, Senator Sani Musa (Niger East), condemned the rollover of unimplemented capital projects from one fiscal year to another, describing it as a systemic anomaly.

Providing context, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, explained that while the 2024 budget was fully funded, the 2025 budget had suffered severe setbacks.

“Out of the projected N40tn revenue for the 2025 fiscal year, only N10tn has been realised, leaving a shortfall of N30tn and consequently forcing the Federal Government to roll over 70 per cent of capital projects captured in the 2025 fiscal year to 2026,” Edun said.

Lawmakers reacted sharply, insisting that the practice of multiple budgets must end.

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Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) declared:

“This ugly situation of multiple budget implementations should end this year. It is not acceptable. Things must be normalised from next year.”

Similarly, Senator Olalere Oyewumi (Osun West) urged the executive to present only realistic and achievable proposals, warning that persistent non-implementation fuels fiscal rollovers.

Senators Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) and Ireti Kingibe (FCT) queried why revenue gaps were not bridged with borrowings earlier approved by the National Assembly.

In response, Musa assured colleagues that corrective measures would begin in 2026. He also announced the creation of a three-member ad hoc committee to liaise with the Finance Minister and Accountant-General to ensure prompt payment of contractors for projects executed under the 2024 budget before year-end.

On revenue generation, Musa tasked FIRS Chairman Zacch Adedeji to deliver at least N35tn in 2026. Adedeji disclosed that FIRS generated N20.2tn in 2024 and N25.2tn in 2025, but noted that gains were often eroded by the burden of implementing overlapping budgets.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, defended the macroeconomic assumptions underpinning the proposed N54.4tn 2026 budget, which include an oil production benchmark of 1.84 million barrels per day, an oil price of $64.85 per barrel, and an exchange rate of N1,512/$1.

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