Economist and former Director General of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Dr Chijioke Ekechukwu, has raised serious concerns over the federal government’s directive to roll over 70 percent of the 2025 capital budget into 2026. He warned that the move undermines fiscal discipline, creates confusion in public spending, and risks prolonging delays in project delivery.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News on Tuesday, Ekechukwu criticised the overlapping budget approach, saying, “Nigeria is a country with a fiscal period of January to December. Anything that makes it impossible for us to run our budget from January to December can be described as fiscal irresponsibility… Budget has been what we say we’re going to spend in a particular year. So, we’ve been taking loans, we’ve been spending. What have we been spending on?”
“The whole world is watching to see how we manage our fiscal policy,” Ekechukwu said. “Budget is a major fiscal policy decision taken by any government of the world. For us to move our capital expenditure of 2025 into 2026 shows that we are not committed to what we have told Nigerians and defined to the world. It does not show fiscal discipline.”
He emphasised that overlapping budgets have real consequences for contractors, financial institutions, and public confidence. “A lot of contractors in this country today are being owed, and the thing is overlapping into problems encountered by banks and financial institutions that give them loans. These are part of the problems, and we need to just get a little more serious.”
Ekechukwu challenged the government’s justification that ongoing projects justify the rollover. “I don’t buy that. A particular portion of any particular capital project has been allocated to this year’s budget. The financial aspects cannot overlap. They must be spent within the year. If it’s a continuous project, then the next phase will enter the following year’s budget, but to say the budget is overlapping—no, that is not the way to run fiscal policy.”
He warned that continued mismanagement of budgetary allocations undermines fiscal credibility and could exacerbate Nigeria’s borrowing and deficit problems. “We’ve been taking loans and spending. What have we been spending on? Part of fiscal discipline is ensuring that budgets go according to plan. Up to today, nobody has explained the extent to which borrowed funds have been utilised and why borrowing continues.”
Ekechukwu concluded by urging greater seriousness in managing Nigeria’s fiscal policy to restore both domestic and international confidence in the country’s economic management.
Boluwatife Enome
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