The Senate, on Thursday, questioned the federal government’s economic team about what it termed as ongoing poor budget execution, particularly the low delivery of capital votes to ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).

Concerns were raised during an interactive session between the Senate Appropriations Committee and members of the Economic Team on the implementation of the N58.472 trillion 2026 budget and the completion of the capital components of the 2024 and 2025 budgets by March 31, 2026.

The session was presided over by the committee’s chairman, Solomon Adeola.

Addressing questions about the funding of the capital components of the 2024 and 2025 budgets, Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, stated that the two budgets are still being funded, but parliamentarians were dissatisfied with his reply.

Zacch Adedeji, chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), informed the committee that unrealistic expectations impede successful implementation.

“Budget funding must come from realistic projections. Efficiency is not about the size of the budget but about how much can actually be implemented,” Adedeji said.

“If you think you have ten units and spend accordingly, that is manageable. But if you assume you have one hundred and spend based on that assumption, you may run into serious problems if the funds do not materialise.”

The committee chairman stated that the projections in question came from the executive branch of the government.

“This document before us originated from the executive. The projections and challenges came from the executive arm, not the legislature. The gap between projected and realised oil revenue is wide,” he said.

“For example, how do we explain 18 percent performance in one year and projections of 36.5 percent the next year when actual performance is still below expectations?

“So the question is: Do we reduce the N58.472 trillion 2026 budget, or do we proceed and make adjustments? Debt financing is already high.