The Democratic and Leadership Alliance (DLA) has criticised the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu over the National Assembly’s decision to extend the implementation of the capital component of the 2025 budget to December 31, 2026.
The latest extension, approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, is the fourth adjustment to the deadline. The capital component was initially due to expire on December 31, 2025, before being extended to March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2026.
The DLA, in a statement signed by its National Campaign Council Head of Media and Publicity, Dr Tosin Odeyemi, said the repeated extensions raised concerns about budget implementation, fiscal accountability and legislative oversight.
Odeyemi alleged that none of the capital budgets under the Tinubu administration since 2023 had achieved 30% implementation, while claiming that implementation of the 2025 budget remained below 10%.
The allegation was also contained in an earlier DLA statement reported by The Guardian and The Authority on September 1 and 2, 2026 respectively. The figures are the party’s claims and were not independently established in those reports.
The group also questioned why contractors involved in government projects were still protesting over unpaid obligations despite funds being appropriated for the projects.
“The big question is, why are contractors still protesting over unpaid projects executed for the Federal Government? Where are the funds appropriated for these projects? Where are the trillions of naira that the federal government got from FAAC?” Odeyemi asked, according to the statement reported by The Guardian on September 1, 2026.
The DLA further argued that extending the 2024 budget into 2025 and the 2025 budget into 2026 had made it more difficult for Nigerians to track government spending and assess the performance of ministries, departments and agencies.
The latest extension followed an executive request seeking additional time for MDAs to complete ongoing capital projects. The Senate said the extension would provide an administrative window for projects for which funds had already been released to be completed, while the House said economic pressures and other factors had slowed capital implementation.
The move has also renewed attention to President Tinubu’s December 19, 2025 pledge to end overlapping budget cycles. While presenting the 2026 Appropriation Bill, Tinubu said all capital liabilities from previous years would be funded and closed by March 31, 2026, after which Nigeria would operate on a single budget backed by a single revenue cycle.
The DLA said the continued extensions contradicted that commitment and called for a comprehensive review of federal budget implementation from 2023 to date.
It urged the National Assembly to publish details of funds appropriated, released and actually spent by MDAs, particularly amid increased government revenue following reforms such as petrol subsidy removal and changes in revenue collection.
The group also called on lawmakers to commence the constitutional process for Tinubu’s removal if an investigation establishes impeachable offences or gross misconduct.
The DLA’s demand is conditional on the outcome of such an investigation; no finding of impeachable conduct against the President was established by the reports reviewed for this story.
