June 15, (THEWILL) — Following a similar move by the Senate, the House of Representatives has approved an extension of the implementation period for the capital component of the 2025 Appropriation Act, shifting the deadline from June 30, 2026, to September 30, 2026, to allow Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) additional time to complete ongoing projects and fully utilise released funds.
The approval came during an emergency plenary session convened on Monday by the lower chamber to consider urgent legislative business relating to the extension of the lifespan of capital expenditure captured under the 2025 federal budget.
The decision by the House aligns with an earlier resolution passed by the Senate, which also granted a 90-day extension to prevent the disruption of ongoing projects and improve budget implementation performance across key sectors of the economy.
Leading debate on the general principles of the bill, House Leader, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, explained that the extension became necessary because a substantial amount of funds already released by the Federal Government to Ministries, Departments and Agencies remained unspent.
According to him, despite the release of funds for capital projects, several MDAs have been unable to fully utilise the allocations due to administrative bottlenecks, procurement delays and implementation challenges affecting project execution.
Ihonvbere said the additional three-month window would provide agencies with adequate time to complete ongoing projects, process outstanding payments and ensure that already committed public funds deliver their intended developmental impact.
He warned that failure to extend the implementation deadline could lead to the abandonment of critical infrastructural projects nationwide, particularly projects already nearing completion but delayed by procedural and operational constraints.
The House Leader stressed that the extension was necessary to ensure continuity in key government interventions while preventing waste of public resources already invested in strategic national development projects.
He further explained that granting more time for execution would strengthen budget performance and enable government institutions to meet obligations to contractors handling ongoing infrastructure and development projects.
The House approval followed an emergency sitting summoned specifically to consider urgent matters relating to the federal budget implementation timeline.
According to reports, the notice of the emergency sitting was issued by the Acting Clerk of the House of Representatives, Ibrahim Sidi, through an internal memo circulated to lawmakers on Sunday.
The memo stated that the emergency session would be held at 11 a.m. in accordance with Order Five, Rule 2, Sub-rule 2 of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives.
During deliberations, lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the extension, maintaining that allowing the June 30 deadline to stand could disrupt ongoing government programmes, stall infrastructure projects and undermine effective utilisation of budgetary allocations already released.
Members argued that the extension would help ensure efficient use of public funds while safeguarding projects considered vital to economic development, service delivery and infrastructure expansion across the country.
With the approval, Ministries, Departments and Agencies now have until September 30, 2026, to execute, certify and make payments for capital projects contained in the 2025 budget.
The coordinated decisions by both chambers of the National Assembly signal strong legislative backing for improved budget implementation and underscore efforts to ensure that critical projects financed with public resources are completed rather than abandoned due to bureaucratic delays.
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