By Timileyin Akinmoyeje

The Federal Government has disbursed only 32.28% of its 2024 capital budget as of June 2025, six months after the budget was supposed to have run its course, FIJ has found.

This was revealed in the 2024 full-year budget performance report released by the Budget Office on October 19.

According to the report, out of a total N12.39 trillion approved for capital projects, only about N3.28 trillion has been spent by ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).

In total, the government released N3.99 trillion, all of which was fully cash-backed. More than N723 billion remained unspent across several agencies by the end of the fiscal year.

MAJOR MINISTRIES

The different agencies that make up the Federal Government performed differently across sectors. Nigeria’s security sector got funding above the statutorily allocated amount in the budget.

For instance, the Federal Ministry of Defence led with a 113.45% disbursal, getting more than its total allocation. The ministry has only used about 99% of the amount disbursed to it.

This was mainly due to extra funding from the Service-Wide Vote, an emergency fund used to support security operations. The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) also overshot its allocation. It recorded 314.59% higher than the amount allocated to it.

Ministries like the Federal Ministry of Finance, in contrast, recorded very poor performances. Ranking bottom of the pile. The finance ministry only got 2.14 percent of its N817 billion budget.

Other weak performers include Power (3.66%), Communication Technology (8.96%), and Justice (18.91%).

Key ministries such as Works (63.50%), Agriculture (68.41%), Water Resources (45.97%), and Science and Technology (52.36%) implemented less than three-quarters of their allocations.

Ministry Appropriation (N) Releases (N) Utilisation (N) Utilisation %
Defence 339,286,557,299 386,378,263,298 384,925,502,140 113.45
Finance 817,020,034,775 139,594,278,603 17,512,943,017 2.14
Power 411,154,418,655 59,439,080,761 15,034,061,934 3.66
Works 987,289,797,899 727,828,449,066 626,926,106,279 63.50
Agriculture 886,652,814,701 695,050,842,156 606,581,139,528 68.41
Water Resources 281,741,625,800 143,900,859,874 129,510,732,616 45.97
Science & Tech 309,355,735,374 188,141,625,107 161,990,595,817 52.36
Education 480,781,350,182 169,118,676,179 113,172,877,786 23.54
Health 543,399,337,824 197,708,296,132 174,979,892,048 32.20

DELAYED REPORT AND BUDGET EXTENSION

The report was released months after the end of the fiscal year, only after pressure from journalists, researchers, and civil society groups demanding transparency about the 2024 budget performance.

FIJ had earlier reported how Tinubu’s and the current federal administration reversed most of the budget reform progress achieved during the administration of the late Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s former president. The Open Treasury portal has remained inactive for instance.

The release of budget performance documents stalled for months after their statutory deadlines.

The 2024 budget was originally scheduled to end in December 2024, in line with the January–December cycle introduced under Buhari in 2019.

However, the Federal Government and the National Assembly extended its implementation to December 2025 to give MDAs more time to complete ongoing projects.

Even with the extension, capital performance has remained weak.

Low cash releases and poor utilisation continue to plague Nigeria’s budget process. ‘Cash release’ refers to the actual funds made available to agencies, while ‘utilisation’ measures how much of that money is spent.

When both are low, projects either do not start or remain incomplete.

TINUBU’S PROMISES VS REALITY

Tinubu had promised to improve budget implementation when he presented the 2024 ‘Renewed Hope’ budget to the National Assembly.

He said the focus would be on capital investment in infrastructure, agriculture, and job creation.

He also pledged to reduce waste, improve revenue collection, and ensure that capital budgets were implemented annually.

 

While revenue collection improved — with non-oil revenue surpassing projections by about 30 percent in the first half of 2024 — the gains did not translate into better spending outcomes.

The funds were released, but many MDAs could not use them effectively.