Civic-tech organisation BudgIT has tackled the Federal Ministry of Finance over the non-publishing of the Quarterly Budget Implementation Reports through the Budget Office.
In a statement signed by its Senior Communication Associate, Nancy Odimegwu, on Thursday, BudgIT said the action was a clear violation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.
According to Part V of the Act, which focused on budgetary execution and achievement of targets, section 30 stated, “The Minister of Finance shall cause the report (on the Implementation of the Annual Budget) prepared pursuant to subsection (1) of this section to be published in the mass and electronic media and on the Ministry of Finance website, not later than 30 days after the end of each quarter.”
Decrying the development, the civic-tech organisation said the President Bola Tinubu-led administration had yet to publish a BIR in nearly one fiscal year and highlighted that the previous administration, in its two terms, published a minimum of three BIRs per fiscal year. The Tinubu administration is expected to publish nearly four BIRs from Q2, 2024, to Q2, 2025.
Aside from the non-publishing of the BIRS, the organisation noted that the government’s own public platforms, notably Open Treasury.gov, have not been updated with new information since January 2025.”
“Once a vital source for daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly Federal Government spending data, the platform has not been updated with new information since January 2025.
While acknowledging its previous imperfections, such as missing data from some ministries, departments, and agencies, broken links, and non-machine-readable data, BudgIT emphasised that Open Treasury.gov was largely comprehensive and a significant demonstration of governmental transparency and willingness to be held accountable,” read part of the statement.
Commenting on the development, BudgIT’s Group Head of Research and Policy Advisory, Vahyala Kwaga, said, “The unwillingness of this administration to publish what was once a matter of routine is discouraging. The ability of a government to hold itself accountable to its laws is not only to be expected of a democracy such as ours but is an indication of adherence to the rule of law.”
He further asserted that the non-publishing of crucial information by the Ministry of Finance and the Budget Office of the Federation should not be replaced by mere “pronouncements” by officials in the media. “It should be done by publishing financial information according to existing laws. Citizens and the general public have a right to know and a right to be informed,” Kwaga concluded.
BudgIT also issued a clear call to action as it urged the Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office of the Federation, and President Tinubu to “uphold the principles of transparency, legal compliance, and accountability in the management of public funds”.
Furthermore, BudgIT called on citizens, civil society organisations, the private sector, academia/research, and the international community to collectively advocate for the “urgent publication of the expenditure performance underpinning the Federal Government’s 2024 budget.”
Meanwhile, the World Bank had called for careful monitoring of the implementation of the 2025 budget.
In its May 2025 Nigeria Development Update, the World Bank noted, “The FGN 2025 budget is overly ambitious; hence, the need to carefully monitor its implementation and correct course if needed.” Overly optimistic revenue projections may cause financing requirements to exceed budgeted amounts, leading to a build-up of arrears and raising the risk of renewed recourse to deficit monetisation.”
