CSJ Raises Alarm Over Capital Budget, Urges Tinubu to Act
By Iyoho Emmanuel
ABUJA — The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has raised concerns over the non-implementation of the capital component of the 2026 Federal Government budget, warning that failure to release and cash-back appropriated funds could undermine the nation’s economic reforms.
The Lead Director of the Abuja-based civil society organisation, Eze Onyekpere, made the assertion in a speech delivered in Abuja as part of the Centre’s Public Finance Management (PFM) Series, titled “Refusal To Implement The Capital Budget.”
Onyekpere said the Federal Government could not effectively implement its economic reforms without corresponding budgetary releases, noting that laws and policies required adequate funding to achieve their intended objectives.
According to him, as of September 2026, not a single kobo had been released from the 2026 Federal Government budget, which was signed into law on February 17, 2026.
He questioned how the government could energise and grow the economy if it concentrated on recurrent expenditure, including salaries, while failing to adequately fund critical capital projects.
“How do you energise the economy? How do you grow the economy if you simply pay salaries and refuse to pay for roads, infrastructure, electricity, and all those critical components that hire people, increase employment and provide services?” he queried.
The CSJ Lead Director also was concerned over the implementation of the capital component of the 2025 budget carried over into 2026.
He said although the Federal Government had recently claimed to have released 70 per cent of the outstanding allocation, the release was not cash-backed, making it difficult for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to execute projects.
Onyekpere argued that budgetary allocations without actual cash backing could not translate into meaningful infrastructure development, employment opportunities and improved public services.
He ,therefore ,called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently intervene in the situation, stressing that the Federal Government needed to release appropriated funds and provide the necessary cash backing for their implementation.
Onyekpere also appealed to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to address what he described as a growing problem in budget implementation.
“This is not the way to reform an economy. This is not the way to run an economy,” Onyekpere said, urging the government to release taxpayers’ money appropriated by the National Assembly and ensure that it was effectively deployed.
He maintained that implementing the 2026 capital budget, alongside the outstanding capital component of the 2025 budget, would enable the government to improve infrastructure, create employment and deliver services capable of positively affecting the lives of the wider population.
The Centre for Social Justice is a Nigerian knowledge institution that advocates social justice in public decision-making and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.