Alleged Off-budget Expenditure: Lawmakers Demand Emergency Reconvening of N’Assembly

•Seek independent forensic audit of all reported off-budget expenditure

•Frown on under-implementation of the 2024, 2025, 2026 Appropriation Acts

•Lament constitutional controversy surrounding the State Police Alteration Bill

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A group of bi-partisan lawmakers in the House of Representatives under the aegis of Save Nigeria Group has called upon the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, to reconvene both Chambers immediately for an emergency session.

The emergency session, the lawmakers said, must address the issue of under-implementation of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 Appropriation Acts; the constitutional controversy surrounding the State Police Constitutional Alteration Bill; and allegations of off-budget expenditure.

Other issues they want the parliament to address as a matter of urgency included: non-release of capital funds to security agencies; the deteriorating security situation; and measures required to restore public confidence in the rule of law and democratic governance.

The concerned lawmakers stated this in a statement issued Friday and jointly signed by Hon. Awaji-Inombek Abiante (NDC, Rivers); Hon. Abubakar Kusada, (APC, Katsina) and Hon. Mansur Jega (ADC, Kebbi) on behalf of the group.

The lawmakers clarified that they are neither an opposition platform nor an instrument of any political interest, rather they are legislators increasingly alarmed by the direction of Nigeria’s democracy and the growing tendency of public institutions to subordinate the Constitution.

The lawmakers lamented that Nigeria’s democracy is nosediving, adding that silence in the face of repeated constitutional violations and institutional failures could no longer be justified.

They pointed out that the country is confronting an alarming disregard for the rule of law, chronic budget under-implementation, allegations of off-budget expenditure, worsening economic hardship and an unacceptable security situation.

The concerned lawmakers emphasised that democracy cannot survive where constitutional procedures are treated as inconveniences and legal safeguards are replaced by political improvisation.

They expressed concern over the emerging pattern in which constitutionally prescribed procedures are treated as optional.

The lawmakers recalled that during the approval of the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State in March 2025, the National Assembly relied on voice votes despite the requirement under section 305(6) of the Constitution that the proclamation must be supported by a two-thirds majority of all members of each Chamber.

They said more recently, serious constitutional and procedural questions arose from the purported passage of the Executive State Police Constitutional Alteration Bill by the House of Representatives on 23 July 2026.

The lawmakers stated: “The Speaker announced that 311 members had voted in support of the Bill, thereby exceeding the constitutional threshold of 240 affirmative votes.

“However, some of us were physically present throughout the proceedings and can state categorically that at no time that day were as many as 240 members in the Chamber, particularly when the Bill was considered.

“The figure announced by the Speaker could only have been reached by including votes transmitted through WhatsApp by members who were absent from the Chamber at the material time.”

The lawmakers stressed that Section 9(2) of the Constitution requires the affirmative votes of not less than two-thirds of all members of each Chamber before the Constitution can be altered.

According to them, The mere announcement of figures by the Speaker cannot substitute for strict constitutional compliance.

They added: “The Constitution cannot be altered by presumption, improvisation or undisclosed voting arrangements.

“Democracy is endangered when a state of emergency can be approved through an unverifiable voice vote and the Constitution can purportedly be altered through WhatsApp messages.

“State Police may be desirable, but a desirable reform must still be established through a lawful process.”

The lawmakers further lamented that throughout the 2024, 2025 and 2026 fiscal cycles, Nigeria has experienced repeated budget extensions, rollovers and severe delays in capital implementation.
They said in 2025, the federal government indicated that only approximately 30 per cent of the 2025 capital budget would be funded, while about 70 per cent would be carried forward into 2026.
The lawmakers pointed out that it is no longer an occasional administrative delay, but a recurring breakdown of fiscal governance.

They further recalled that Senate Chief Whip, Mohammed Monguno, publicly described the failure to implement an Appropriation Act as a breach of the law capable of amounting to an “impeachable offence.”

They noted: “We agree with Senator Monguno that the deliberate or persistent refusal to implement duly enacted Appropriation Acts raises grave constitutional questions.

“Repeated rollovers weaken parliamentary oversight, confuse fiscal accountability and make it almost impossible for Nigerians to determine which projects belong to which financial year.”

To this end, the concerned lawmakers therefore demanded comprehensive budget implementation reports for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 fiscal years; full disclosure of capital releases made to every ministry, department and agency.

They further demanded reconciliation of revenues collected against expenditure authorised by the National Assembly; an explanation for the failure to release duly appropriated capital funds; and a joint parliamentary investigation into chronic budget under-implementation.

They also called for appropriate constitutional action where deliberate or unjustifiable non implementation is established.

The lawmakers said that the Appropriation Act is law, and the federal government cannot choose which laws to obey.

While decrying reports of unrecorded public expenditure, the lawmakers maintained that allegations of misappropriation must be established through competent investigation and due process.
Nevertheless, they were of the opinion that available reports provide sufficient grounds for immediate legislative scrutiny and forensic auditing.
The lawmakers also recalled that in July 2026, the International Monetary Fund reportedly stated that public expenditure equivalent to approximately two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product had not been recorded in recent official budgets, an amount estimated at approximately ₦8.83 trillion.

The lawmakers emphasised that the reported unrecorded expenditure was said to have contributed to a discrepancy between Nigeria’s declared fiscal deficit and its actual financing requirements.

This matter, they insisted, cannot be dismissed through public relations or general denials by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

They noted: “Public funds cannot lawfully be spent outside duly enacted Appropriation Acts, concealed under opaque accounting classifications or omitted from fiscal information presented to the National Assembly and the Nigerian people.

“This administration cannot demand sacrifice from Nigerians while public expenditure remains opaque. Every naira spent by the Government belongs to the Nigerian people.

“Those entrusted with public funds must account for how the money was appropriated, released, expended and utilised.

“Budgetary opacity is not merely an accounting problem. It is a threat to constitutional government, public trust and Nigeria’s economic survival. We call for an independent forensic audit of all reported off-budget expenditure.”

On security, the lawmakers said while the protection of lives and property is the primary responsibility of government, Nigerians continue to be killed, kidnapped and displaced by terrorists, bandits, criminal gangs and other violent groups.

The lawmakers expressed worry by Monguno’s further disclosure that some security agencies had received no capital releases despite the worsening security situation.

They said reports indicated that approximately ₦20.27 billion, representing nearly the entire budgetary provision for the Presidential Air Fleet, was released, while only a small fraction of the Nigerian Army’s allocation for security equipment was made available during the period under review.

“The question is not whether the Presidential Air Fleet should be maintained. The question is why the comfort and mobility of public officials should receive more predictable funding than the equipment, logistics, operational vehicles, aircraft maintenance and protective resources required by personnel confronting terrorists and bandits,” they posited.

Against this background, the lawmakers called for the immediate release of duly appropriated capital funds to the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Force, intelligence institutions and other security agencies.

The lawmakers commended the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria for speaking candidly about insecurity, economic hardship, democratic decline and concerns about emerging one-party dominance.

They added that the Bishops have demonstrated that patriotism sometimes requires telling those in authority uncomfortable truths.

They also commended the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria for urging caution, wider consultation and national consensus before the establishment of State Police.

The lawmakers noted that Nigeria’s present circumstances do not permit the legislature to remain away from plenary while urgent constitutional, fiscal, economic and security questions remain unresolved.

They stated: “We call upon the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to reconvene both Chambers immediately for an emergency session.

“The session must address: chronic under-implementation of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 budgets; the constitutional controversy surrounding the State Police Constitutional Alteration Bill; allegations of off-budget expenditure; non-release of capital funds to security agencies; the deteriorating security situation; and measures required to restore public confidence in the rule of law and democratic governance.”

They said the National Assembly is not merely an institution for passing Executive Bills and approving requests from the Presidency, but an independent arm of government constitutionally empowered to represent the people, defend the Constitution, appropriate public funds, conduct oversight and hold the Executive accountable.

The lawmakers stated categorically that while they are not opposed to State Police, economic reform or necessary public expenditure, they are however opposed to unconstitutional procedures, legislative shortcuts, unimplemented budgets, opaque expenditure and the continuing failure to protect the Nigerian people.