Economy
Senate Extends Capital Component of 2024 Budget to December 2025
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The capital component of the 2024 budget has again been extended by the Senate to December 31, 2025, from June 30, 2025.
This action was taken by the upper chamber of the National Assembly at its plenary on Tuesday, meaning the country is running two appropriation acts at the same time, as the 2025 budget is currently effective.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Mr Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, while presenting a bill titled A Bill for an Act to Amend the 2024 Appropriation Act to further extend the Capital Components of the Act from 30th June 2025 to 31st December 2025″ (SB. 854) today, asked his colleagues to extend the implementation of the previous year’s budget to allow sufficient time for procurement processes, disbursements, and actual project execution.
In his contribution, the Senate Chief Whip, Mr Mohammed Tahir Monguno, backed the extension but called for a review of the Finance Ministry’s “bottom-to-top” disbursement policy, arguing that it had introduced bureaucratic bottlenecks and red tape that stall effective budget execution.
On his part, Mr Abdul Ningi decried the repetitive nature of the problem, calling for a formal investigation by the Appropriations Committee to explain continued implementation failures.
A former Senate Leader, Mr Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, accused the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of bottlenecking payments and stalling project execution even for contractors who had completed work.
“The credibility of this Government is getting very very down. Workers whose salaries have been increased, say we have given them 35 thousand Naira additional money and we have created a new minimum wage of N70,000 but nobody has seen anything.
“I think for the purpose of its own credibility this Government has to come and explain to Nigerians what is happening because now we are being taken for a ride,” he said, cautioning that continued mismanagement not only risks government credibility but also raises doubts over the federal government’s ability to fulfil its budgetary promises.
“The credibility of this government is getting down, he lamented. This budget should have been implemented and done by December 31, 2024, but right now, the activities of the Government are stalled. The system adopted for payment has woefully failed,” he said.
The Deputy Senate President, Mr Barau Jibrin, who presided over the plenary, confirmed that the Committees on Finance and Appropriations had engaged the Finance Minister and other stakeholders but hinted that the matter may now warrant direct engagement with President Bola Tinubu.
He, however, informed his colleagues that, “If the budget is not extended, projects will be abandoned. But we’re nearing the point where we may have to escalate this to the President himself.”
The bill passed through first, second, and third readings in a single session today under a suspended rule procedure. The lawmakers passed it unanimously by voice vote after clause-by-clause consideration.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) says the rollout of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) will strengthen tax compliance, curb revenue leakages and improve transparency in tax administration as it moves to fully digitise the country’s tax system.
The Project Lead for the NRS e-Invoicing Project, Mr Mohammed Bawa, stated this at the DigiTax E-Invoicing Compliance Breakfast Session held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The event, organised by DigiTax, an NRS-accredited e-invoicing platform, formed part of efforts to support the agency’s ongoing education and sensitisation campaign on the e-invoicing mandate.
Mr Bawa said the initiative aligns with global trends in tax digitisation and is expected to help improve Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio, which remains one of the lowest in Africa.
According to him, the system will provide the NRS with greater visibility into transactions across sectors, formalise activities within the informal economy and standardise invoice formats nationwide using globally recognised invoice schemas.
He added that e-invoicing would improve operational efficiency for both businesses and tax authorities while supporting the NRS’ transition from manual and electronic tax administration processes to a fully automated system-to-system interaction model.
Mr Bawa noted that the legal framework for implementation is backed by the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, which prescribes penalties for non-compliance.
He disclosed that the NRS has completed onboarding large taxpayers and is preparing to enforce compliance with defaulting entities.
According to him, medium taxpayers are expected to begin compliance in the third quarter of 2026, while onboarding of emerging taxpayers will commence in 2027, with full adoption targeted for all taxpayers by the end of 2028.
Mr Bawa urged taxpayers yet to be onboarded onto the platform to begin the process and work with accredited service providers to ensure compliance.
On his part, Country Director of DigiTax Nigeria, Mr Olumide Akinsola, urged businesses to look beyond their internal systems and assess the compliance status of suppliers and counterparties.
He warned that businesses whose suppliers fail to transmit invoices through the MBS platform risk losing eligibility to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) input credits on such transactions, describing the resulting supply chain exposure as a significant commercial risk that many organisations have yet to quantify.
Mr Akinsola also announced the launch of DigiTax’s white paper, The State of E-Invoicing Readiness in Nigeria, which examines compliance adoption trends and the readiness gap across different taxpayer segments.
He added that DigiTax operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), noting that experience from those markets shows businesses that integrate early are better positioned to avoid disruptions when enforcement begins.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The names of about 100,000 companies registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) are about to be deleted for inactivity, especially for failing to file their annual tax returns, Business Post reports.
This information was disclosed by the CAC via a notice signed by its management on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
The list contains organisations like the Nigeria-Poland Chamber of Trade Invest Ltd, Alariwo of Afrika Ltd, Ovation Sports International, First Union Pension Fund Administrators, Investopedia Limited, Baptist High School Abuja Ltd, and Yobe Aluminium Manufacturing Industries Ltd, amongst others.
In the statement, the commission said its decision to strike off the names of the affected firms from the register aligns with the provisions of Section 692(3) (3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.
However, the affected companies can still salvage the situation by filing all outstanding annual returns and regularising their records within 90 days.
“Please note that companies that fail to comply within the stipulated timeline shall be struck off the register without further notice,” it declared, expressing its continued commitment to providing prompt and efficient registration and regulatory services to the satisfaction of its valued customers.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange gained 1.75 per cent on Wednesday, July 15, pushing the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 74.20 points to 4,316.51 points from 4,242.31 points, as the market capitalisation added N44.54 billion to finish at N2.590 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N2.546 trillion.
During the session, there was an 11.5 per cent rise in the value of transactions at midweek to N72.7 million from the preceding session’s N65.2 million, as there was a 3.7 per cent growth in the number of deals to 28 deals from the previous session’s 27 deals, while the volume of securities slumped by 64.5 per cent to 4.9 million units from 13.7 million units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended as the most active security by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, with the second spot occupied by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc after selling 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and the third position was taken by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which exchanged 74.3 million units for N5.3 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was negative yesterday, as there were two price gainers and three price losers.
11 Plc added N22.36 to its value to close at N250.00 per share versus N227.64 per share, and CSCS Plc improved by N7.95 to N90.35 per unit from N82.40 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.37 to end at N150.00 per share versus N151.37 per share, UBN Property Plc depreciated by 6 Kobo to N1.75 per unit from N1.81 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc dropped 1 Kobo to close at N2.49 per share versus N2.50 per share.
