FG Fails To Publish One-Year Revenue Report

The Budget Office of the Federation has failed to publish budget performance documents covering four different quarters, raising concerns over transparency and accountability in the management of public resources, NewsNGR can authoritatively report.

Checks on the website of the Ministry of Budget and National Planning show that the last budget performance document made publicly available covered the third quarter of 2025.

This means that reports covering the fourth quarter of 2025, as well as the first, second and third quarters of the 2026 fiscal year, remain unavailable on the ministry’s website as of the time of filing this report.

The development has left critical information about the Federal Government’s revenue generation, expenditure patterns and budget implementation for the outstanding quarters inaccessible to the public.

Consequently, Nigerians, civil society organisations, researchers and other stakeholders are unable to independently examine how the Federal Government has implemented its budget, the amount of revenue generated, the level of expenditure recorded and the extent to which funds allocated to different sectors have been utilised.

The budget performance report provides an overview of the country’s fiscal position, detailing government revenues, expenditures and the implementation of approved budgetary provisions. It also offers an opportunity to assess whether government spending aligns with approved allocations and whether projected revenue targets are being achieved.

Budget implementation reports are ordinarily published quarterly, with each report covering a three-month period. They are expected to be made available through the Budget Office of the Federation’s website to enable public access to information on the government’s fiscal activities.

However, the prolonged absence of the outstanding reports raises questions about the Federal Government’s compliance with existing fiscal transparency requirements.

Under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, the Federal Government is required to monitor budget implementation and make relevant information about public finances available to Nigerians.

Specifically, Section 30(2) of the Act mandates the Ministry of Finance to publish quarterly budget performance reports in the print and electronic media, as well as on the ministry’s website, not later than 30 days after the end of each quarter.

Similarly, Section 50 of the Act provides for the publication of a summarised report on budget execution within 30 days after the end of each quarter.

These provisions are intended to strengthen fiscal discipline, promote transparency and ensure that citizens can monitor how public funds are raised and spent.

The failure to make the outstanding reports available therefore raises concerns about compliance with the statutory reporting requirements and the extent to which the government is fulfilling its obligations to provide timely information on public expenditure.

The absence of these documents is particularly significant given the importance of quarterly budget performance reports in assessing the government’s fiscal priorities and identifying discrepancies between approved budgets and actual spending.

Without timely access to the reports, members of the public and accountability institutions may find it difficult to track expenditure trends, assess the performance of government programmes and determine whether public resources are being deployed in line with approved priorities.

The development also comes amid growing concerns about transparency in the management of public resources and calls for greater accountability in government spending.

Experts have noted that fiscal openness remains an important component of democratic governance, as access to budget information enables citizens to scrutinise public expenditure, question government decisions and demand explanations where funds are not utilised as approved.

In August 2025, BudgIT, a civic-tech organisation advocating for transparency in Nigeria’s public finance accused the Federal Ministry of Finance and Budget Office of the Federation of flouting the law by failing to publish its Budget Implementation Reports.

It said, “Budget Implementation Reports are not only a requirement of the law and established practice, they are an indication of the government’s willingness to be transparent and to provide evidence of its spending.”

“Public sector accounting principles emphasise the need to publish and disseminate financial information as a matter of professional practice and to secure engagement of the public as a significant stakeholder in public financial management.”

The Nigerian government through the Director-General of the country’s Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, had argued that the Nigerian Constitution does not impose a strict one-year implementation period for budgets.

However accountability advocates have expressed concerns over the pattern of delays, noting that these leads to poor transparency and accountability.