The Nigerian presidency has effectively confirmed that capital budget funds for 2024 and 2025 were not released to ministries, deepening a growing controversy over stalled spending after the passage and approval of the appropriation laws for both years.
In a post on X on Tuesday, presidential media aide Sunday Dare announced that “payments for outstanding 2024 capital projects have now commenced”.
Dare added:
“1. Payments for outstanding 2024 capital projects have now commenced.
2. Full implementation of the capital components in both the 2024 and 2025 budgets targeted for completion on or before March 31, 2026.
3. For the 2025 capital budget: All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been directed to submit/upload their cash plans by close of business on Monday, February 23, 2026. Payment processing will begin immediately thereafter.”
The statement amounts to the clearest acknowledgment yet that capital releases for 2024 and effectively 2025 so far were not made, despite budget approvals by the National Assembly.
For weeks, ministers have publicly complained during budget defense sessions that their ministries received little or no capital allocations in 2025, triggering public outrage in a country battling severe infrastructure and development deficits.
Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate disclosed that of over ₦300 billion approved for his ministry, only ₦35 million was released last year, a fraction that shocked the public. Other ministers, including those overseeing Justice, Power, Transportation, Women Affairs and Social Development, have reported zero or minimal capital disbursements.
The situation escalated when Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo told a joint session of Senate and House committees on Thursday that his ministry recorded zero capital releases for two consecutive fiscal years.
“For two consecutive years, we have recorded zero per cent capital release,” Tunji-Ojo said, adding that performance on capital projects equally stood at zero percent.
Until Dare’s post, the federal government had offered no comprehensive explanation for the apparent freeze in capital spending.
The new statement suggests that not only were 2025 capital releases largely absent, but outstanding obligations from 2024 were also left unpaid, an extraordinary development for Africa’s largest economy, which continues to grapple with deteriorating hospitals, power infrastructure, security installations and transport networks.
The presidency’s reference to “settlement of indebtedness from previous administrations” drew swift backlash online, with many Nigerians accusing the government of attempting to deflect responsibility rather than explaining why funds already appropriated were not disbursed.
The disclosure comes as the National Assembly moves to consider the ₦58.18 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill presented by President Bola Tinubu in December 2025.
Analysts say the confirmation of delayed capital releases raises serious questions about budget credibility, cash management, and the federal government’s capacity to execute development projects even as it prepares to approve its largest budget ever.
Discover more from Pluboard
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.