As the country laments the delay in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2026 budget proposal, the Senate on Monday, through its Finance Committee, voiced dissatisfaction with the federal government’s adoption of several budgets in a fiscal year, similar to what happened in 2025.
As a result, while the federal government bemoaned shortages of N30 trillion from the N40 trillion revenue target for 2025, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) was charged with raising its estimated income target for 2026 from N31 trillion to N35 trillion.
During an interactive session with top managers of the country’s economy on the 2026–2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Plan (FSP), the Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Sani Musa (Niger East), revealed the senators’ displeasure with the implementation of multiple budgets in a fiscal year.
In his contextual comments on forecasts for the 2026 budget and the implementation of the 2024 and 2025 budgets, Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, told the committee that although revenues for the 2024 budget had been met, those for the 2025 budget had not.
The capital components of the 2024 budget have been funded thanks to the realization of the N26 trillion income prediction, but the 2025 budget has not been fulfilled.
“Only N10 trillion of the estimated N40 trillion in revenue for the 2025 fiscal year have been realized, leaving a shortfall of N30 trillion. As a result, the federal government has had to roll over 70% of capital projects captured in the 2025 fiscal year to 2026,” he stated.
Some committee members, including Senators Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), Olalere Oyewumi (Osun West), Victor Umeh (Anambra Central), Aminu Iya Abbas (Adamawa Central), and others, were alarmed by the submission and voiced their disapproval of the many budget implementations in a fiscal year.
In particular, Senator Goje stated that Nigerians find it intolerable when several budgets are implemented in a same year.
Please put a stop to the unpleasant predicament we find ourselves in with several budget implementations by the end of this year. It’s not appropriate. He stated, “From next year on, things must be normalized.”
In his remarks, Senator Oyelere advised the Minister that since the governed did not provide the government with financial suggestions, the government should propose workable plans to prevent non-implementation, which typically led to several implementations in the years that followed.
In their comments, Senator Victor Umeh and Ireti Kingibe questioned why the federal administration did not use borrowings authorized by the Senate and, consequently, the National Assembly to cover the gaps in income targets.
However, in his role as Chairman, Senator Sani Musa saved the Minister by reassuring his colleagues and, consequently, Nigerians that the necessary normalization in budget forecasts and implementation will begin in 2026.
He continued by saying that the committee would form a three-person ad hoc committee to consult with the Minister and the Federation’s Accountant General over the payment of local contractors for projects completed in 2024 before the budget expires on this month’s 31st.
Senator Sani Musa assigned Zacch Adedeji, the Chairman of FIRS, to aim toward achieving N35 trillion as target revenue for the 2026 fiscal year rather than the Chairman’s originally estimated N31 trillion.
According to the forecast made by the FIRS chairman, the agency under his leadership generated N20.2 trillion in income in 2024 and N25.2 trillion in 2025.
However, he claimed that numerous budget implementations in a fiscal year swallow up and render insufficient the enormous revenue generated by FIRS and other agencies like Customs.
In their submissions, Senator Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, and Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State (Petroleum), defended the N54.4 trillion 2026 budget’s parameters.
The criteria include a daily output of 1.84 million oil, a benchmark oil price of $64.85, an exchange rate of N1, 512.00 to 1 USD, etc.
In the meantime, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) hopes to collect N31 trillion by 2026.
During a conversation with the Senate Committee on Finance on Monday at the National Assembly in Abuja, FIRS Executive Chairman Dr. Zacch Adedeji revealed this.
Adedeji’s disclosure came after Senator Sani Musa, the head of the Senate Finance Committee, demanded that the FIRS chairman respond.
In the absence of other intervening variables, Adedeji had already informed the committee that he would not be able to set a revenue performance target for 2026.
However, the chairman and committee members reminded him that the Service had surpassed its 2025 income generation objective of N25.2 trillion by 16% and asked him to set a goal.
At the French embassy in Abuja, Dr. Adedeji took the time to explain the dispute surrounding the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by FIRS and France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques.
Dr. Zacch Adedeji of FIRS and Marc Fonbaustier, the French ambassador in Nigeria, formalized the agreement.
The Memorandum of Understanding creates a framework for cooperation between the two organizations with an emphasis on enhancing digital procedures, bolstering tax administration, and increasing institutional capacity.
The FIRS Establishment Act authorized such cooperation with pertinent international tax organizations for mutual benefits, according to Adedeji, who went on to explain the MoU.
He claims that the Memorandum of Understanding with the French agency is nothing new and that FIRS had previously collaborated in a similar manner with pertinent agencies in Singapore, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
The chair of the FIRS rejected allegations made by some that such cooperation with foreign organizations could reveal Nigerians’ tax information.
“No one can reveal or release anybody’s tax data to another person or any foreign agency,” declared Adedeji. The concerns are unwarranted because the French agency they are referring to cannot obtain the tax information of a single Nigerian.
FAAC divides November 2025 revenue among FG, States, and LGs at ₦1.928 trillion.
Nonetheless, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributed ₦1.928 trillion in November 2025 income across the nation’s local government councils, states, and federal government.
At the December 2025 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting, which took place in Abuja on Monday, the revenue was distributed.
The ₦1.928 trillion total distributable revenue was made up of distributable statutory revenue of ₦1.403 trillion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of ₦485.838 billion, and distributable Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of ₦39.646 billion, according to a statement from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
According to the announcement, November 2025 had a total gross revenue of ₦2.343 trillion.
A total of ₦84.251 billion was deducted for collecting costs, while ₦330.625 billion was spent on transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
The release states that gross statutory revenue for the month of November 2025 was ₦1.736 trillion.
This was ₦427.969 billion less than the ₦2.164 trillion that was received in October 2025.
In November 2025, the Value Added Tax (VAT) generated gross revenue of N563.042 billion.
This was N156.785 billion less than the N719.827 billion available in October 2025.
According to the communiqué, the Federal Government received N747.159 billion and the State Governments received N601.731 billion out of the N1.928 trillion total distributable revenue.
While the beneficiary states received N134.355 billion (13% of mineral revenue) as derivation revenue, the Local Government Council received N445.266 billion.
According to the communiqué, the Federal Government received N668.336 billion and the State Governments received N338.989 billion of the N1.403 trillion in distributable statutory revenue.
The Local Government Councils were given N261.346 billion, and the benefitting States received N134.355 billion, or 13% of the mineral earnings, as derivation revenue.
The Federal Government received N72.876 billion, State Governments received N242.919 billion, and Local Government Councils received N170.043 billion from the N485.838 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue.
The Federal Government earned N5.947 billion, state governments received N19.823 billion, and local government councils received N13.876 billion from the N39.646 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL).
Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), CIT on Upstream Activities, Companies Income Tax (CIT), CGT and SDT, Oil & Gas Royalties, Import Duty, CET Levies, Value Added Tax (VAT), Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and Fees all saw significant declines in November 2025, while Excise Duty saw a slight increase.
