2026 budget defence with MDAs hits an unusual lull in House of Reps

The House of Representatives scheduled a 2026 budget defence session beginning from Monday last week, but the energy that typically defines the process was conspicuously absent.

Budget defence sessions are usually a flurry of activities with Lawmakers bustling between committee rooms, officials from ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) shuffling in with stacks of documents, the low hum of side conversations and occasional bursts of interrogations filling the corridors. Instead, committee rooms that normally brim with officials and lawmakers were like ghost towns.

The House finance committee, responsible for one of the most high-profile segments of budget scrutiny, had planned a three-day session: Wednesday, Thursday, and the following Tuesday. Observers arrived on Tuesday, only to find no MDA in sight. Lawmakers appeared, barely five minutes passed, and then, almost as suddenly as they had gathered, they dispersed. There were no statements, no press briefing, and no explanation for the abrupt adjournment.

The next day, the committee managed to hold a budget defence, two hours behind schedule, and with only a handful of agencies in attendance. Outside that, nothing to show that budget defence has commenced.

BusinessDay gathered that the unusual quiet was not just a coincidence. Many lawmakers are reportedly unhappy with the implementation of the 2025 budget, particularly as it’s affecting their allocations for constituency projects and to run their office.

A Lawmaker revealed that many of his colleagues don’t have the money to run constituency projects or to fund our offices.

BusinessDay also gathered that the lack of funds extended to basic logistics for even the budget defence sessions.

Budget defence sessions are critical; they allow legislators to scrutinise how ministries spend public funds and ensure that allocations meet stated objectives. When sessions are skipped, delayed, or poorly attended, it can affect accountability and weaken oversight.

Observers noted the slow start is not without consequences. Nigeria has a long history of delaying the start of budget implementation, often forcing agencies to operate under provisional arrangements until allocations trickle in. The late start of the 2025 budget defence raises fears that the scrutiny process could drag on, delaying the approval and implementation of the 2026 budget.

If the pace does not pick up, lawmakers may end up rushing the remaining defence sessions to meet the legislative calendar of the executive and rushed sessions means corners get cut, and accountability suffers.

Nigeria’s budgeting process is often described as both ambitious and unpredictable. Each year, the federal government prepares an appropriation bill outlining how much it plans to spend across ministries, departments, and agencies. In theory, once the National Assembly passes the budget, agencies should receive allocations on time and start implementing programmes immediately. In practice, however, the process is rarely smooth.

Nigeria, has historically struggled to start budget implementation on schedule. Delays in passing the budget, late release of funds, stall projets that should impact citizens.

The 2025 budget, like its predecessors, promised new investments, expanded social programmes, and funding for ongoing infrastructure projects. But even as allocations were approved, actual cash flow to agencies stalled.

This pattern of late starts has become routine. But budget defence sessions are meant to help bridge this gap. They allow lawmakers to question agencies on their planned expenditures, examine the logic behind allocations, and ensure funds are being directed to priority areas.