BREAKING: CISLAC Raises Alarm Over Tinubu’s ₦54.2 Trillion Budget Proposal

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has expressed deep concerns over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s proposal to increase Nigeria’s 2025 budget from ₦49.7 trillion to ₦54.2 trillion.

Naija News gathered that the centre describes the move as unprecedented and potentially unconstitutional.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani warned that the budget expansion, though backed by reported additional revenues from key government agencies, raises critical governance and fiscal management issues.

Rafsanjani, who also serves as the Head of Transparency International Nigeria, criticized the manner in which the budget increment was introduced.

He stated that instead of following the constitutional requirement of presenting a supplementary appropriation bill, the executive branch merely sent a letter to the National Assembly to notify lawmakers of the increment.

Citing Section 81(4) of the 1999 Constitution, he noted that any insufficiency in appropriated funds or need for additional expenditure must be addressed through a formal supplementary estimate presented to the National Assembly for approval.

“The cited additional revenues were not sudden; failing to account for them in the initial budget highlights poor fiscal foresight,” Rafsanjani stated.

Threat To Fiscal Oversight And Debt Burden

The CISLAC director warned that bypassing legislative scrutiny on major budgetary increments could weaken Nigeria’s constitutional system of checks and balances, thereby diminishing the role of the National Assembly in fiscal oversight.

“This unilateral decision-making weakens the constitutional principle of checks and balances and sidelines the legislature’s role in fiscal oversight,” Rafsanjani added.

He also raised concerns over Nigeria’s rising national debt, warning that the budget increase comes at a time when the country is struggling with ballooning debt servicing costs.

“In 2025, Nigeria allocated ₦16.32 trillion for debt servicing, a drastic surge from ₦712 billion in 2014,” he pointed out.

He further noted that many debt-financed infrastructure projects remain incomplete or abandoned, citing the Kaduna-Abuja Highway as an example.

To ensure fiscal sustainability, CISLAC advised the federal government to prioritize internally generated revenue (IGR) over increasing external borrowing.

The organization proposed that instead of embarking on large-scale, debt-driven projects, the government should focus on smaller, realistic infrastructure developments that can be completed efficiently.

“CISLAC recommends leveraging internally generated revenue to fund smaller, realistic projects that can be completed efficiently, thereby reducing the country’s reliance on loans and ensuring tangible benefits for citizens,” Rafsanjani stated.

CISLAC called for rigorous scrutiny of all budgetary provisions to ensure they align with Nigeria’s fiscal priorities, urging the National Assembly to take a firm stand against arbitrary budget adjustments without proper legislative processes.