President Bola Tinubu has requested the House of Representatives to approve a ₦43.56 trillion re-enactment budget, a move aimed at eliminating the practice of operating overlapping fiscal budgets and strengthening discipline in public finance management.
The request was conveyed in a formal letter to the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, and presented to lawmakers during plenary by the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu.
According to the communication, the proposed Appropriation (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill for the 2024–2025 fiscal period seeks authorization to draw a total of ₦43,561,041,744,507 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
The funds are intended to cover statutory transfers, debt servicing obligations, recurrent non-debt expenditure, and capital or development-related spending.
President Tinubu explained that the legislation is designed to bring clarity and order to the budgeting process by consolidating appropriations into a single, transparent framework.
He noted that the approach would put an end to the inefficiencies associated with running multiple budgets at the same time.
The President also stated that the re-enactment would legitimize urgent expenditures already made in response to emergencies, particularly those related to national security and public welfare.
According to him, the bill provides a legal structure for addressing time-sensitive obligations while maintaining accountability.
As part of tighter financial controls, the proposed law restricts the use of released funds strictly to purposes approved by the National Assembly.
It further requires that any budgetary adjustments through virement must receive prior legislative approval, while corrections to errors would only be allowed under clearly defined conditions.
The bill also mandates the separate documentation of excess revenues, limiting their use to instances expressly authorized by an Act of Parliament.
In addition, it emphasizes compliance with due process and periodic reporting on fund releases, internally generated revenues, and external assistance received by government agencies.
President Tinubu urged lawmakers to act swiftly on the proposal, stressing the importance of timely legislative approval to support effective governance and fiscal stability.
Following its presentation, the House passed the bill through first and second readings.
The Deputy Speaker subsequently referred it to the House Committee on Appropriations for further legislative consideration.
