The National Assembly has extended the deadline for implementing the 2025 budget while lawmakers prepare to consider proposed legislation covering medical services and research.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio (left); Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele; Secretary, Finance and Accounts, National Assembly, Atiku Ibrahim and Clerk of the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, after the extension of the implementation of the capital component of the 2025 budget at the Senate Chamber, National Assembly Complex, Abuja, yesterday.
President seeks confirmation of nominees for various posts
The two chambers of the National Assembly have received President Bola Tinubu’s 2026 statutory budget proposal for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The Senate also received requests to confirm nominees to key federal institutions.
For the fourth time, the Red Chamber has amended the 2025 Appropriation Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) to extend the implementation of the capital component of the 2025 budget from September 30 to December 31, 2026.
Alongside the NDDC Bill, Tinubu transmitted two other bills to the House of Representatives for legislative consideration.
Like the Senate, the House of Representatives also extended the deadline for implementing the capital component of the 2025 Appropriation Act from September 30 to December 31, 2026.
The transmission of the NDDC Bill came on the first day of plenary after the Senate’s two-month recess, but lawmakers subsequently adjourned plenary again until October 13, 2026, with the chamber scheduled to hold a security summit on October 12 and 13.
The NDDC budget proposal was transmitted to the Senate for consideration as the commission prepares to fund interventions in youth empowerment, power, education, healthcare, security and agricultural productivity across the oil-producing region.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio read the President’s communication on the floor and referred the proposal to the Senate Committee on Regional Development for consideration.
Tinubu sought the Senate’s confirmation of Dr Abdullahi Saidu as Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), along with Mohammed Asmau, Mohammed Makama, and Dr Suleiman Gidado as members of the commission’s board.
The nominations were referred to the Senate Committee on Finance, which was given two weeks to report back.
In another request, the President nominated Sani Ndanusa as a non-career Ambassador and High Commissioner-designate to The Gambia. The nomination was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for screening and consideration.
Tinubu also requested the confirmation of Engineer Wakili Bukar as a member of the Federal Civil Service Commission representing Bauchi, Borno and Yobe states for a second and final five-year term. The Senate referred that nomination to the Committee on Establishment.
The two executive bills the Senate also received from the President include the National Postgraduate Medical College Amendment Bill, 2026, which seeks to rename the institution and expand its powers to award doctoral degrees in clinical medicine, dentistry and related fields. The bill was referred to the Committee on Rules and Business.
The second bill is the National Research and Development Fund Establishment Bill, 2026, which seeks to consolidate fragmented research funds across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) into a single competitive funding mechanism under the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.
The proposed fund is also expected to receive direct funding from the Nigerian Content Development Fund and to promote collaboration among research institutions, universities, and the private sector.
The Presidency said the initiative was intended to strengthen research and support the commercialisation of locally developed technologies.
Meanwhile, the Senate was informed that President Tinubu had assented to the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria Amendment Bill, 2026, effectively making it law.
After considering the executive communications and other legislative business, the Senate proceeded on another two-week break.
Announcing the adjournment, Akpabio said the Senate would reconvene on October 13, while a security summit would take place on October 12 and 13. This means the Senate’s return from its extended recess lasted only a single plenary sitting before lawmakers adjourned again.
The National Assembly had earlier postponed its resumption from September 15 to September 29, to allow for the completion of rehabilitation work in the legislative chambers.
Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, moved the motion for amendment of the 2025 Appropriation Act after an executive session and clause-by-clause consideration at the Committee of Supply.
Bamidele said the extension would provide an administrative window to fully implement capital projects for which funds had already been released and to ensure the completion of critical national projects already at advanced stages.
In the letter on the NDDC budget, Tinubu said the Minister of the Niger Delta Development prepared the proposal in accordance with Section 121 of the Constitution.
He said the budget was based on the commission’s revenue and expenditure projections and aligned with the Federal Government’s fiscal and development policies as well as the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The proposal also takes into account the 2024–2026 Economic Recovery Growth Plan and key assumptions underpinning the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Tinubu said the NDDC would focus its interventions on youth empowerment, energy and power supply, education, industrial and enterprise development, healthcare, security and agricultural productivity.
