The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation (BoF), Mr. Tanimu Yakubu, has disclosed that implementation of the N54.99 trillion 2025 budget will commence before the end of September.
Yakubu gave the assurance in Abuja on Thursday at the Third Quarter Ministerial Stakeholders and Citizens Engagement Forum organised by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning. His remarks come amid concerns that the “Budget of Restoration,” passed into law about nine months ago, has yet to take effect.
He said effective execution and prudent fiscal management would be critical to its success, stressing that citizens’ participation was essential because “Nigerians are the ultimate owners of public resources.” Yakubu noted that setting realistic revenue targets, particularly in the oil sector, remained a major challenge.
The BoF boss highlighted initiatives to strengthen accountability, including simplifying budget documents, translating them into local languages, and empowering communities to monitor projects. He also emphasised the fiscal implications of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), noting the need to improve revenue recognition, streamline tax credit schemes, and prioritise debt servicing, which accounts for N14.3 trillion of the 2025 budget.
Yakubu further outlined strategies to support Nigeria’s ambition of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2030, such as ward-based development programmes across 8,809 wards, tax reforms, fiscal discipline, and innovation partnerships like the $30.9 million Nigeria-Japan start-up initiative.
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, reaffirmed government’s commitment to transparency and data-driven governance. “Our policies and programmes must be shaped by facts, not speculation. Data is the bedrock of responsible governance,” he said.
Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, called for stronger investment in data systems, improved public understanding of statistics, and constructive engagement from the media and civil society. He listed ongoing reforms at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), including statistical literacy campaigns, new data visualisation tools, and a re-modelled website.
On the delayed publication of Budget Implementation Reports since the second quarter of 2024, Yakubu explained that the process was to ensure accuracy and credibility, stressing that the reports integrate expenditure data with physical verification of projects.
