As the country laments the delay in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2026 budget proposal, the Senate on Monday, through its Finance committee, voiced dissatisfaction with the federal government’s adoption of several budgets in a fiscal year, as was the case in 2025.
As a result, while the federal government bemoaned shortfalls of N30 trillion from the N40 trillion revenue target for 2025, it assigned the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to raise its estimated revenue target for 2026 from N31 trillion to N35 trillion.
During an interactive session with top managers of the country’s economy on the 2026–2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Plan (FSP), the Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Sani Musa (Niger East), expressed the senators’ displeasure with the implementation of multiple budgets in a fiscal year.
In his contextual comments on forecasts for the 2026 budget and the execution of the 2024 and 2025 budgets, Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, told the committee that although revenues for the 2024 budget had been met, those for the 2025 budget had not.
The complete projected revenue of N26 trillion has been realized, providing funding for the capital components of the 2024 budget, but not for the 2025 budget.
“Only N10 trillion of the estimated N40 trillion in revenue for the 2025 fiscal year have been realized, leaving a shortfall of N30 trillion, and consequently, the federal government has to roll over 70% of capital projects captured in the 2025 fiscal year to 2026,” he stated.
Some committee members, including Senators Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), Olalere Oyewumi (Osun West), Victor Umeh (Anambra Central), Aminu Iya Abbas (Adamawa Central), and others, were alarmed by the submission and voiced their concern with the many budget implementations in a fiscal year.
In particular, Senator Goje stated that Nigerians find it intolerable that several budgets are implemented in a same year.
Please put a stop to the unpleasant predicament we find ourselves in about several budget implementations by the end of this year. It is unacceptable. Next year, everything need to return to normal,” he stated.
In his response, Senator Oyelere advised the Minister that since the governed did not provide the government with financial plans, the government should propose feasible ideas to prevent non-implementation, which typically leads to multiple implementations in later years.
In their statements, Senator Victor Umeh and Ireti Kingibe questioned why the federal administration did not use borrowings authorized by the Senate and, consequently, the National Assembly to cover the gaps in income targets.
However, in his role as Chairman, Senator Sani Musa saved the Minister by promising his colleagues and, consequently, Nigerians that the necessary normalization in budget forecasts and implementation would begin in 2026.
He further stated that a three-person ad hoc committee will be established by the committee to consult with the Minister and the Federation’s Accountant General over the payment of local contractors for projects completed in 2024 prior to the budget’s expiration on this month’s 31st.
Senator Sani Musa assigned Zacch Adedeji, the chairman of FIRS, the job of achieving N35 trillion as goal revenue for the 2026 fiscal year, rather than the N31 trillion that the chairman had previously said.
According to the FIRS boss’s forecast, the agency under his leadership generated N20.2 trillion in income in 2024 and N25.2 trillion in 2025.
However, he claimed that numerous budget implementations in a fiscal year swallow up and render insufficient the enormous money realized by FIRS and other agencies like Customs.
In their submissions, Senators Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, and Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State (Petroleum), defended the N54.4 trillion 2026 budget’s parameters.
The parameters include N1, 512.00 to 1 USD as an exchange rate, 1.84 million oil production per day, and a benchmark oil price of $64.85.
In the meantime, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) hopes to collect N31 trillion in revenue by 2026.
During a discussion with the Senate Committee on Finance on Monday at the National Assembly in Abuja, FIRS Executive Chairman Dr. Zacch Adedeji revealed this.
Adedeji’s revelation came after Senator Sani Musa, the head of the Senate Finance Committee, demanded a response from the FIRS chairman.
Adedeji had already informed the committee that, in the absence of other intervening events, he would not be able to set a revenue performance target for 2026.
However, the chairman and committee members reminded him that the Service had surpassed its 2025 income generation objective of N25.2 trillion by 16% and encouraged him to set a target.
At the French embassy in Abuja, Dr. Adedeji took the time to address the controversy surrounding the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by FIRS and France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques.
Dr. Zacch Adedeji of FIRS and Marc Fonbaustier, the French ambassador to Nigeria, formalized the agreement.
The Memorandum of Understanding creates a framework for cooperation between the two organizations with an emphasis on enhancing digital procedures, bolstering institutional capacity, and improving tax administration.
Adedeji went on to explain the Memorandum of Understanding, stating that the FIRS Establishment Act authorized such cooperation with pertinent international tax authorities for reciprocal advantages.
He claims that the Memorandum of Understanding with the French agency is not new and that FIRS has previously collaborated in a similar manner with analogous agencies in Singapore, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
The chair of the FIRS rejected accusations made by some that such cooperation with foreign organizations could reveal Nigerian tax data.
“Nobody can reveal or release anybody’s tax data to another person or any foreign agency,” stated Adedeji. The concerns are unwarranted because the French agency they are referring to cannot access the tax information of a single Nigerian.
FAAC distributes ₦1.928 trillion in income across FG, States, and LGs in November 2025.
Nonetheless, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributed ₦1.928 trillion in revenue from November 2025 to the nation’s local government councils, states, and federal government.
The revenue was distributed during the December 2025 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting, which took place on Monday in Abuja.
According to a statement from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the ₦1.928 trillion total distributable revenue was made up of ₦1.403 trillion in distributable statutory revenue, ₦485.838 billion in distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, and ₦39.646 billion in distributable Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue.
According to the announcement, there was ₦2.343 trillion in gross revenue available in November 2025.
The overall amount of transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings was ₦330.625 billion, while the total deduction for collecting costs was ₦84.251 billion.
The announcement claims that gross statutory revenue for November 2025 was ₦1.736 trillion.
This was ₦427.969 billion less than the ₦2.164 trillion received in October 2025.
In November 2025, the Value Added Tax (VAT) generated N563.042 billion in gross income.
This was N156.785 billion less than the N719.827 billion that was available in October 2025.
According to the communiqué, the Federal Government received N747.159 billion and the State Governments received N601.731 billion out of the total distributable revenue of N1.928 trillion.
The beneficiary states received N134.355 billion (13% of mineral revenue) as derivation revenue, while the Local Government Council received N445.266 billion.
According to the communiqué, the Federal Government received N668.336 billion and the State Governments received N338.989 billion of the N1.403 trillion distributable statutory revenue.
The beneficiary States received N134.355 billion (13% of mineral revenue) as derivation revenue, while the Local Government Councils received N261.346 billion.
The Federal Government received N72.876 billion, State Governments received N242.919 billion, and Local Government Councils received N170.043 billion of the N485.838 billion in distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue.
The Federal Government earned N5.947 billion from the N39.646 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), while state governments received N19.823 billion and local government councils received N13.876 billion.
Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), CIT on Upstream Activities, Companies Income Tax (CIT), CGT and SDT, Oil & Gas Royalties, Import Duty, CET Levies, Value Added Tax (VAT), Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and Fees all saw significant declines in November 2025, while Excise Duty increased somewhat.
