…Says Failure to Execute Appropriation Act Is ‘Impeachable Offence’
Senator Tahir Monguno has questioned the Federal Government’s poor budget implementation despite improved revenue performance, arguing that failure to execute an Appropriation Act amounts to a breach of the law and is “an impeachable offence.”
Speaking during a Senate engagement the Minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the economy and top economic officials, Monguno said reports presented by revenue-generating agencies showed that most had exceeded their revenue targets, making the slow pace of budget implementation difficult to understand.
“I am not an economics but in my 100level I offered economics 101 as electiolve course at the university. Budget implementation is fundamentally a function of revenue,” he said.
“From the figures presented to us and the briefings we have received from revenue-generating agencies, almost all of them have exceeded their revenue targets. If revenue performance has improved so significantly, it appears inherently contradictory that government is still struggling to implement the budget. Where is the revenue going?”
The senator noted that the 2025 budget was not fully implemented, with about 70 per cent of its provisions rolled over into 2026.
He said the government had assured lawmakers that the outstanding 30 per cent would be implemented before March, but that deadline was missed, prompting the National Assembly to extend the lifespan of the 2025 Appropriation Act until September to allow completion of outstanding capital projects.
“If revenues are exceeding projections, why is budget implementation lagging behind? The dividends of democracy are delivered through the implementation of the budget, particularly capital projects. If the budget is not being implemented, then the fundamental purpose of government is undermined.”
Monguno expressed concern that security agencies had informed the committee that they had received no capital releases despite worsening security challenges.
“For example, security of lives and property is the primary responsibility of government. Yet, all the security agencies that have appeared before this committee informed us that they have received zero capital releases,” he said.
Questioning the government’s compliance with the Appropriation Act, Monguno stated that failure to implement the budget constitutes a breach of the law.
“Failure to implement an Appropriation Act amounts to a breach of the law, and such a breach is an impeachable offence,” he said.
The senator also sought clarification over recent allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), noting that while about ₦3.7 trillion accrued to the Federation Account last month, only about ₦2 trillion was distributed to the federal, state and local governments.
“Approximately ₦1.7 trillion was retained. Why was this amount withheld instead of being distributed?” he asked.
Government officials later responded that budget implementation continues to be affected by expenditure pressures, including debt servicing, personnel costs and other statutory obligations, despite improvements in revenue generation.
SOURCE: Guardian Nigeria