The Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamsldeen Ogunjimi has challenged the National Assembly to ensure that the 2026 Appropriation Bill translates into real and measurable improvements in the lives of Nigerians, warning that budget figures without impact amount to failure.
He spoke at a one-day public hearing and interactive session on the 2026 Appropriation Bill organised by the Senate Committee on Appropriations, themed “From Budget to Impact-Strengthening Macroeconomic Stability, Accelerating Infrastructure Delivery and Improving Security through Fiscal Discipline, Tax Reforms and Effective Budget Implementation.”
The Accountant-General said Nigeria has, for too long, been strong on budget formulation but weak on implementation and impact, noting that despite trillions of naira appropriated annually, millions of Nigerians continue to ask, “Where is the road? Where is the hospital? Where is the job? Where is the impact?”
According to him, the real issue before lawmakers is no longer the size of allocations, but whether those allocations bring meaningful changes to the daily lives of citizens.
He stressed that every naira in the 2026 budget must justify its existence.
He urged lawmakers to move away from traditional measures of budget success such as the number of budget lines, the volume of allocations, or the speed of passage and instead focus on outcomes.
On accountability, he said budget implementation must move beyond paperwork to performance, urging the legislature to demand clear answers on whether projects were delivered, met required standards, and solved the problems they were designed to address.
He further described the public hearing as a vital democratic tool rather than a formality, calling on the Senate to insist on clear performance indicators for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), realistic timelines, transparent cost assumptions, and alignment with national development plans.
He concluded by urging all arms of government to work together to move from budget to impact, warning that history will not remember how quickly the 2026 budget was passed, but what it ultimately changed.
(Editor: Anoyoyo Ogiagboviogie)
