An economic analyst and bank executive, Adolphus Aletor, has criticised the National Assembly for what he described as its “characteristic habit of speedy assent to every executive request,” warning that the practice weakens budget scrutiny and contributes to Nigeria’s persistent budget performance failures.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, Aletor reacted to the Senate’s swift passage of the 2026 Appropriation Bill for second reading, barely days after it was presented by President Bola Tinubu.
“You realise that the National Assembly has a characteristic habit of speedy assent to every executive request, and I’m not surprised that at this time they have given that same attention to this request,”he said.
While acknowledging that the 2026 budget had already been presented late in the fiscal calendar, Aletor noted that speed should not replace proper legislative rigour.
“From a professional angle, the budget should be approved before a certain time, and you might want to give them some credit because the 2026 budget is already late,”he said.
“Budgets like this are supposed to be presented around September so the House can do a proper line-by-line review.”
He expressed concern over the federal government’s handling of multiple overlapping budgets, describing the situation as unhealthy for fiscal discipline.
“We are now considering 2024, 2025 and 2026 budgets at the same time. Many people have had issues with this administration running multiple budgets,” Aletor said.
On budget performance, Aletor delivered a damning verdict, arguing that repeated rollovers showed deep systemic failure.
“When you have a carryover for three consecutive years, it doesn’t look good for any administration,”he said.
“There is no basis to rate the government positively when you cannot finish the 2024 budget, carry it into 2025, and now into 2026.”
He added that only about 30 per cent of the 2025 budget had reportedly been implemented, with 70 per cent rolled into 2026, while the 2025 budget itself would run until March 2026.
“If you rate this administration on budgeting, most experts agree that their performance has been very poor,” Aletor said.
“It has serious implications for the economy because government is the highest spender in Nigeria and many businesses depend on the budget.”
He stressed that budget timing was just as critical as budget size.
“A budget is neither amount nor currency; it is currency in time,” he said.
“You cannot separate the budget cycle from budget performance. If the timing is wrong, the performance will be wrong.”
Explaining why budgets have consistently underperformed, Aletor blamed unrealistic assumptions and fiscal indiscipline.
“This administration has put a lot of pressure on itself to perform and has largely come up with unrealistic figures,” he said.
“Take the 2025 revenue budget — government projected about ₦40 trillion but realised only ₦10 trillion, leaving a ₦30 trillion deficit.”
He also recalled that the ₦53 trillion 2024 budget was later reduced to ₦48 trillion, questioning the credibility of initial projections.
“At what point is government not seeing the budget from the beginning to the end?”he asked.
“Deficit budgeting is not something any administration should be proud of.”
On legislative oversight, Aletor warned that excessive cooperation between the legislature and the executive could undermine accountability.
“The National Assembly has been very cooperative with the executive arm, and I expect that support to continue,” he said.
“But I am concerned about the back-and-forth that usually happens during what they call budget enhancement.”
He cautioned that delays arising from this process could push the effective start of the 2026 budget into the second quarter.
“If this budget only takes effect by April, it will still be acceptable,” he said.
“But my advice is that whatever variances exist should be resolved within 2026 so that by 2027, we return to a single, consolidated budget.”
Aletor concluded that only then could the government credibly deliver on its promise of a “budget of consolidation, renewed resilience and shared prosperity.”
Boluwatife Enome
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