The Federal Government has set Friday, September 18, 2026, as the deadline for ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, to submit their personnel cost proposals for the 2027 budget.
The move is part of efforts to present the 2027 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly in September and improve the budget cycle, which has been affected in recent years by implementation challenges and overlapping fiscal years.
The directive was contained in the Federal Government of Nigeria 2027 Personnel Costs Budget Call Circular, dated September 4, 2026, and signed by the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu.
The circular, published on the Budget Office’s website, provides guidelines for MDAs preparing their personnel expenditure proposals for the 2027 fiscal year.
The Budget Office said the draft 2027-2029 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper had been completed in July 2026 to allow the government to submit the 2027 budget proposal to the National Assembly by September.
Although the circular did not state the exact date for the budget presentation, the timetable suggests that the government intends to submit the proposal about three months before the start of the 2027 fiscal year.
Nigeria’s budget process has faced repeated implementation difficulties, with overlapping fiscal years becoming increasingly common since 2024.
The Federal Government had previously linked some budget underperformance to conflicting economic projections from agencies responsible for fiscal and monetary policy.
Following a budget retreat and technical validation exercise, the government identified differences in projections for crude oil prices and production, exchange rates, inflation and non-oil revenue as some of the factors contributing to inconsistencies between budget expectations and actual economic outcomes.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said harmonising these economic assumptions should help reduce the gap between budget projections and actual performance.
New Requirement for Establishment Laws
As part of efforts to strengthen the budget preparation process, the Budget Office has introduced a new requirement for all MDAs to submit the laws establishing them alongside their budget proposals.
The measure follows controversy surrounding the inclusion of a purported government agency in the 2026 budget despite questions over its legal status.
The Budget Office warned that failure to provide an agency’s Establishment Act could result in the rejection of its budget proposal.
The directive is linked to the controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, which received about N1.3 billion in the 2026 budget despite concerns over its legal existence.
The House of Representatives subsequently opened an investigation and began efforts to verify agencies listed in recent Federal Government budgets against the laws establishing them.
President Bola Tinubu also ordered a forensic investigation into government processes and internal controls surrounding the inclusion of questionable agencies in the budget.
ICPC Uncovers More Alleged Fake Agencies
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, later reported the discovery of two additional purported government agencies linked to Adeniyi Adeyemi, who had presented himself as Director-General of the PFIPC.
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, said an investigation established that Adeyemi had never been appointed by the Federal Government.
The commission also found that the PFIPC had no legal foundation because it was neither established by an Act of the National Assembly nor created through an executive order.
According to the ICPC’s interim findings, Adeyemi’s appointment letter was forged and the purported agency had unlawfully taken over offices and official materials previously used by the defunct Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
The commission recommended Adeyemi’s prosecution, disciplinary measures against public officials allegedly involved in the scheme and reforms aimed at strengthening internal controls within government institutions.
Officials from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Budget Office of the Federation and National Information Technology Development Agency were identified as alleged collaborators.
The ICPC also said it discovered the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office operating within the OSGF.
According to the commission, the office had been allocated space within the OSGF without proper legal authority or presidential approval.
The ICPC identified George Buchi Nwabueze as the promoter of the office and said he operated under several names, including George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Nwabueze.
The commission also reported suspected collaborators within the OSGF.
Following the ICPC briefing, President Tinubu ordered the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of three permanent secretaries: M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard P. Pheelangwah.
Amnesty International had described the fake-agency controversy as evidence of weaknesses within Nigeria’s governance institutions and called for an independent investigation.
The Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, told The PUNCH that the incident demonstrated the extent of institutional weaknesses and corruption within government structures.
Tighter Payroll Controls for 2027
The new Budget Office circular also introduced stricter rules covering personnel expenditure, recruitment and payroll management for the 2027 fiscal year.
MDAs were warned against making salary or allowance provisions for individuals who are not legitimate Federal Government employees.
The agencies were directed to verify their payrolls against records from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS, and the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, GIFMIS.
The circular stated that no personnel cost provision would be made for a serving Federal Government employee who is not captured on IPPIS or enrolled on GIFMIS, except where an official exemption has been granted.
MDAs must also use only salary structures and allowances approved by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, while verifying employees’ grade levels, steps and annual increments.
The government has also prohibited MDAs from budgeting for promotions that have not yet taken effect.
Only promotions already approved and effective will be included in the 2027 personnel budget. Promotions that become effective during 2027 will instead be provided for centrally under the Payment for Promotion and Salary Arrears in the Service-Wide Vote.
Restrictions on Recruitment and Contract Workers
For new recruitment, MDAs must provide supporting documents, including financial clearance, letters of first appointment and relevant recruitment waivers or approvals.
The Budget Office warned that it would not accept claims arising from salary shortfalls or payroll lock-outs caused by unauthorised recruitment.
Consultants, contract workers, National Youth Service Corps members, industrial attachment students, outsourced service providers and legionnaires are also barred from being listed as permanent Federal Government employees on MDA nominal rolls.
Non-executive board members are similarly excluded, with their allowances and fees to be covered under the overhead budgets of the respective agencies.
The government said allowances for NYSC members would be provided centrally through the NYSC budget, although MDAs may provide additional allowances from their overhead allocations.
Additional Controls for Health and Education
The Budget Office also introduced specific measures covering outsourced workers, interns and consultants in the health and education sectors.
It warned that workers employed by outsourced service providers must not be placed on the payrolls of MDAs, describing such inclusion as a potentially fraudulent act that would be reported to the appropriate authorities.
The government also prohibited the same consultant or lecturer from being listed on the nominal rolls of multiple Federal health or educational institutions.
Where such duplication is discovered, the individual will be removed from the payrolls of institutions other than their primary place of employment.
Federal health institutions were instructed to comply with approved quotas for interns and honorary consultants, while interns must provide registration or licence numbers for verification before being included in the budget.
The recruitment and deployment of house officers and nursing interns will also be centrally managed by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria respectively.
Hospitals that recruit or deploy such personnel without following the councils’ procedures could face sanctions, including action against their chief medical directors or medical directors.
Real-Time Monitoring of Personnel Costs
The Budget Office plans to introduce a centralised Personnel Cost Monitoring Dashboard linked to IPPIS and GIFMIS.
The system is expected to allow MDAs to monitor actual personnel expenditure against approved budget provisions in real time.
Requests relating to salary and promotion arrears will be reviewed quarterly by a standing committee within the Budget Office.
A separate Payroll Discrepancy Resolution Committee will meet monthly to address differences between information submitted by MDAs and records contained in IPPIS and GIFMIS.
MDAs have also been directed to establish joint human resources and budget personnel cost teams to improve coordination between staffing decisions and budget preparation.
The agencies must submit their third-quarter personnel budget performance reports by September 30, 2026, to support future personnel planning.
They have also been instructed to make provisions for nutrition-related programmes and Early Childhood Development initiatives.
Ministers, chief executives and accounting officers are required to initial every page of the hard copies of their 2027 personnel budget proposals and certify that the information provided is accurate.
SOURCE : PUNCH
