Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Ministers overseeing critical infrastructure agencies in Nigeria face severe funding challenges, with capital releases for projects in the first seven months of 2025 totaling just N834.80 billion, significantly below the expected N10.81 trillion. The Budget Office of the Federation has been criticized for delays in providing budget performance data and low transparency. Despite an appropriated capital expenditure of N18.53 trillion, actual spending demonstrated a mere 7.72% performance rate. Overall capital expenditure for 2025 was N3.60 trillion, indicating a 73.7% shortfall. Ministerial frustrations have arisen from insufficient funds, with notable examples including the Ministry of Health receiving only N36 million of its N218 billion allocation and the Ministry of Transportation getting merely about 1% of its N256.73 billion budget. Funding issues stem from a bottom-up cash planning system, systemic bottlenecks, and reliance on external loans, highlighting significant challenges in executing government projects effectively.

Nigerians continued to lean heavily on cash withdrawals despite higher automated teller machine charges introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, as the value of ATM transactions jumped to N36.34tn in the first half of 2025, reinforcing the resilience of cash usage in the economy.Data from the CBN quarterly statistical bulletin show that ATM withdrawals between January and June 2025 amounted to N36.34tn, nearly tripling the N12.21tn recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.According to the data on the transaction volumes, Nigerians carried out 858.80 million ATM withdrawals in the first six months of 2025, compared with 496.47 million transactions in the same period of 2024. The increase of 362.34 million transactions represents a growth rate of 72.98 per cent, indicating that higher charges did little to dampen demand for cash.It also complicates inflation targeting, as large cash holdings outside the banking system blunt the effectiveness of policy. The sharp rise in currency outside banks comes at a time when the CBN is focused on tightening liquidity to curb inflation.

The Federal Government plans to spend about N206.50bn on poverty alleviation-related projects in the 2026 budget, an amount that represents far below one per cent of the total N58.47tn spending proposal submitted to the National Assembly.A review of project-level data from the 2026 Appropriation Bill shows that all items directly tagged to poverty alleviation across ministries, departments, and agencies, as well as the Service Wide Vote, add up to N206.5bn.When measured against the proposed total budget of N58.47tn, this translates to about 0.35 per cent of overall federal spending for the year. When compared with the capital budget of N23.21tn, the poverty-related envelope represents roughly 0.89 per cent.The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs headquarters has N14m for an end-period-poverty campaign, while the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation has N20.3m for the establishment and activities of the National Council on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.Both PwC and the World Bank caution that without targeted interventions such as job creation, productivity improvements, and effective social protection programmes, reducing poverty levels in Nigeria will remain a major challenge. Rising poverty, they warn, could also weaken domestic consumption, limit productivity growth, and place additional pressure on public finances.

Local contractors from the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria protested at the Federal Ministry of Finance, demanding payment for over N500 billion owed for completed government projects. The protest, led by National Secretary Babatunde Seun-Oyeniyi, arose from frustrations due to the government's failure to honor commitments made in previous meetings regarding these debts. Despite assurances from Finance Minister Wale Edun, no payments have been released, leading contractors to resume protests after a previous temporary halt following National Assembly intervention. Oyeniyi mentioned that despite sighted payment warrants, actual funds were not forthcoming, and accusations were made regarding attempts to delay payments until fiscal year 2026. Protesters displayed placards voicing their grievances, highlighting the severe impact of payment delays on small businesses, and demanding immediate action. The situation has developed tensions between contractors and government officials, culminating in a crisis at the ministry and a previous disruption of House of Representatives proceedings due to similar grievances. A formal response from the finance ministry is still pending.

States across Nigeria earmarked a combined N525.23bn for security votes and related operations between 2023 and 2025, according to an analysis of figures extracted from their approved budget documents.The states’ budgets are contained in Open States, a BudgIT-backed website that serves as a repository of government budget data.The massive vote, intended to bolster security nationwide, raises critical concerns about the efficacy of these measures, as citizens remain increasingly vulnerable to the tide of violence.Although the responsibility for ensuring the safety of lives and property lies with the Federal Government, the increasing wave of kidnapping, robbery, and other forms of violence has compelled many state governors to set up their own internal security strategies to combat the menace.President Bola Tinubu, at a security conference, said a well-governed state is better equipped to address internal challenges and should not depend on federal agencies for safety.He averred that the sorry state of the local government system has contributed to the developmental setbacks and the country’s inability to tackle the prevailing security threats.