_Group says non-disclosure violates FOI Act, demands briefing from ministers_
The Centre for Social Justice, CSJ, has faulted the Federal Government for failing to publish the assented 2026 federal budget, describing it as a “grievous violation” of Nigerians’ right to information on public expenditure.
In a media statement signed by its Lead Director, Eze Onyekpere, the group said it “notes with regret the continued grievous violation of the constitutional and statutory right of Nigerians to information on the details of the allocation and management of public expenditure and resources at the federal level.”
“From the scheme and trajectory of events, these denials are deliberate and targeted at frustrating the exercise of the right of Nigerians to participate and make informed inputs into the fiscal governance system,” CSJ stated.
The group recalled that “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed and assented to the 2026 federal budget on April 17 2026,” adding that “Today is May 4, 2026 and seventeen days after the assent to the budget.”
“A review of the budget segment of the website of the Budget Office of the Federation which normally hosts the federal budget reveals that it has not been uploaded to the website. Furthermore, the approved budget is not available on any other public electronic portal of the Federal Government,” the statement said.
CSJ said the delay “continues the trajectory of the deliberate restriction of information and gross dereliction of duties by the BOF and the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning,” noting that “the executive budget proposal which was presented by the President to the National Assembly on the 19th of December 2025 was only uploaded to the website on January 8 2026 – twenty days after presentation.”
“We are aware that uploading a soft copy of the approved budget to the website of the BOF is an exercise that will not take up to twenty minutes. So, what exactly is responsible for the delay? Pray, is the budget still being reviewed and worked upon in the manner of the Tax Bills that were altered after legislative approval? The BOF needs to explain to Nigerians,” Onyekpere said.
The group also raised concerns over the absence of a public breakdown of the budget. “It is a matter of grave concern that seventeen days after the presidential assent, the BOF, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy have not deemed it fit to have a budget briefing or breakdown session with Nigerians through the media where the details and economic policy leads behind the budget are explained and clarified.”
Citing the law, CSJ said: “CSJ hereby reminds the BOF and the respective Ministers of the provisions of section 48 The Federal Government shall ensure that its fiscal and financial affairs are conducted in a transparent manner and accordingly ensure full and timely disclosure and wide publication of all transactions and decisions involving public revenues and expenditures and their implications for its finances.”
“This deliberate refusal by the BOF to perform a statutory duty runs contrary to the entire gamut of the Freedom of Information Act and the constitutional fundamental objective of participation by the people in their fiscal governance – because no one can participate or make informed contributions without the requisite information,” the statement added.
CSJ issued a deadline to the Budget Office. “CSJ therefore demands that the Director General of the BOF takes action to upload the assented 2026 federal budget to the website of the Office within 48 hours of this media statement. This is not a request for a favour. It is a demand for the performance of a constitutional and statutory duty.”
“If the leadership of the BOF is not ready and willing or not in a position to timely and meticulously perform this duty as they have shown by their previous failure, the option is very clear. Resignation is the most clear and reasonable option because no one is entitled to be paid at tax payers expense and occupy a high public position without the willingness, ability and capacity to perform the functions of the office,” Onyekpere stated.
“Finally, we demand that the BOF, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning and the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister for the Economy urgently hold a 2026 federal budget briefing, being a tradition set over the years of reforms in fiscal governance to improve transparency and accountability in public finance management.”