By Egbuonye Uzoma/Jacinta Nwachukwu
Stakeholders in the budget sector have called for stronger institutional and accountability frameworks to ensure that approved budgets translate into tangible services for Nigerians at the “last mile”.
Speaking at the opening of the PULSE Summit 2026 in Abuja on Thursday, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, said Nigeria must move beyond approving budgets to actually delivering them.
The summit, themed: “From Approved Budgets to the Last Mile: Examining Budget Implementation in Nigeria,” was organised by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation involved in making government budgets more transparent and efficient.
Oyedele described the difference between an approved budget and a delivered one as the most important distinction in public finance.
According to him, an approved budget is a document. It is a set of numbers signed into law but it is worth nothing to the mother waiting for a functioning primary health centre, the child waiting for a teacher or the community waiting for safe drinking water.
He noted that while Nigeria had made genuine progress in budget preparations, classification and open data, the harder work lies downstream, that is, ensuring that funds reach citizens.
He, however, cautioned that freeing resources was necessary but not sufficient, stressing that the institutional and accountability bridges still have to be built span by span.
Also speaking, the Regional Director for Africa, DAI, Dr Joe Abah, said citizens experience government through services, not budget lines.
“A mother who arrives at a primary healthcare centre without essential medicines experiences frustration, not an appropriation.
“A child in an overcrowded classroom experiences the failure of the government to provide a conducive learning environment,” he said.
According to him, approval should be the same as release, calling for stronger links amongst release, procurement, implementation and sustainable delivery.
On her part, the Country Director, IBP Nigeria, Olayinka Babalola, said the summit was borne out of the organisation’s nine years of working with community-based organisations in Nigeria.
According to Babalola, PULSE-Public Finance: Unlocking Last Mile Services is an initiative focused on connecting budget data with citizen experience to improve service delivery in the country.
While acknowledging the improved macro indicators GDP growth of 4.43 and reserves of 53.8 billion dollars, she, however, said the disconnect between the macro indicators and micro level outcomes for regular Nigerians was still wide and very persistent.
She called for greater citizen participation and independent oversight to ensure public finance works for everyone, especially marginalised groups.(NAN)
Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq