Outstanding payment : FG issues new directive to MDAs

 

The Federal Government has commenced the release of funds for outstanding capital projects under the 2024 budget and is also moving to clear inherited debts from previous administrations.

The Nigerian Presidency made the disclosure on Friday, stating that payments for delayed projects captured in the 2024 fiscal framework are now underway.

Confirming the development, the Special Adviser to the President on Public Communications and Orientation, Sunday Dare, said the process to offset pending capital obligations has begun.

“Payments for outstanding 2024 capital projects have now commenced,” Dare stated.

He further revealed that the government is not only addressing pending obligations from the 2024 budget but is also accelerating the implementation of capital components in both the 2024 and 2025 budgets, with a clear completion timeline.

“Full implementation of the capital components in both the 2024 and 2025 budgets targeted for completion on or before March 31, 2026,” Dare said.

Dare emphasised that immediate steps have been introduced to prevent further delays in capital releases, particularly concerning the 2025 fiscal year.

“For the 2025 capital budget: All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been directed to submit/upload their cash plans by close of business on Monday, February 23, 2026,” he disclosed.

He added that the directive is aimed at streamlining disbursement processes and ensuring that budgeted projects move swiftly from appropriation to execution.

“Payment processing will begin immediately thereafter,” Dare added.

The announcement follows growing concerns and protests by contractors, stakeholders and development partners over delayed capital disbursements, a challenge that has slowed infrastructure development and stalled several federally funded projects across the country in recent years.

Earlier in February, the Minister of Health, Ali Pate, disclosed that the ministry received only ₦36 million out of the ₦218 billion appropriated in the 2025 capital budget.

Pate made this disclosure in Abuja during the 2026 budget defence session with the House Committee on Healthcare Services.

The minister explained that the ministry was unable to access certain counterpart funds due to delays in the release of Nigeria’s counterpart contributions. He stressed that the implementation of the 2025 capital budget was consequently stalled by unforeseen circumstances.

Pate further stated that while the ministry’s entire personnel budget was released and fully expended, the same could not be said of the capital component, largely due to the bottom-up cash planning system operated by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

The minister said, “Nigeria’s health sector is guided by Vision 20:2020, the Medium-Term National Development Plan (NDP) 2021–2025, and the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) II.”

Pate also stressed that the policies and strategies underpinning the 2026 budget were derived from the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP), which outlines the Federal Government’s development priorities.

However, he explained that the ministry’s proposed 2026 budget was prepared using the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), in line with the National Development Plan 2021–2025, which emphasises the justification and allocation of resources to projects and programmes based on actual needs.