Lawmakers Demand Emergency N’Assembly Session Over Budgets, State Police, Insecurity

A group of bipartisan members of the House of Representatives, under the aegis of the Save Nigeria Group, has called on Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to immediately reconvene the National Assembly for an emergency session.

Naijaonpoint reports that the lawmakers said the proposed sitting should address alleged under-implementation of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 Appropriation Acts, controversy surrounding the State Police Constitutional Alteration Bill, reported off-budget spending, non-release of capital funds to security agencies and the worsening security situation.

The call was contained in a statement issued on Friday and jointly signed by Awaji-Inombek Abiante of Rivers State, Abubakar Kusada of Katsina State and Mansur Jega of Kebbi State on behalf of other lawmakers.

They said the group was neither an opposition platform nor acting on behalf of any political interest, but was concerned about what it described as a growing disregard for constitutional procedures and the weakening of public institutions.

According to the lawmakers, silence in the face of repeated constitutional and institutional failures could no longer be justified.

The group expressed concern over what it described as a pattern of treating constitutional procedures as optional.

It recalled the National Assembly’s approval of the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State in March 2025, alleging that voice votes were used despite the constitutional requirement for a two-thirds majority of each chamber.

The lawmakers also questioned the procedure adopted in the House during the passage of the Executive State Police Constitutional Alteration Bill on July 23, 2026.

The statement read, “The Speaker announced that 311 members had voted in support of the Bill, thereby exceeding the constitutional threshold of 240 affirmative votes.

“However, some of us were physically present throughout the proceedings and can state categorically that at no time that day were as many as 240 members in the Chamber, particularly when the Bill was considered.”

They alleged that votes transmitted through WhatsApp by absent lawmakers may have been included in the figure announced by the Speaker.

They said, “The Constitution cannot be altered by presumption, improvisation or undisclosed voting arrangements.

“Democracy is endangered when a state of emergency can be approved through an unverifiable voice vote and the Constitution can purportedly be altered through WhatsApp messages.”

The lawmakers stressed that while they were not opposed to the creation of state police, any constitutional amendment must comply strictly with the procedure prescribed by law.

“State Police may be desirable, but a desirable reform must still be established through a lawful process,” they added.

Group Faults Budget Implementation

The lawmakers also criticised what they described as persistent under-implementation of federal budgets between 2024 and 2026.

They said repeated extensions, rollovers and delays in capital releases had created uncertainty around fiscal accountability.

According to them, the Federal Government had indicated in 2025 that only about 30 per cent of the capital budget would be funded, while roughly 70 per cent would be carried over into 2026.

They argued that the pattern could no longer be dismissed as an administrative delay.

The lawmakers cited Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Monguno, who had reportedly described failure to implement an Appropriation Act as a breach of law capable of amounting to an “impeachable offence.”

They said, “We agree with Senator Monguno that the deliberate or persistent refusal to implement duly enacted Appropriation Acts raises grave constitutional questions.

“Repeated rollovers weaken parliamentary oversight, confuse fiscal accountability and make it almost impossible for Nigerians to determine which projects belong to which financial year.”

The group demanded comprehensive implementation reports for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 budgets.

It also sought full disclosure of capital releases made to ministries, departments and agencies, as well as reconciliation of government revenue against expenditure authorised by the National Assembly.

The lawmakers called for an explanation for the failure to release appropriated capital funds and demanded a joint parliamentary investigation into persistent budget under-implementation.

They also urged the National Assembly to consider constitutional action if deliberate or unjustifiable refusal to implement the budgets was established.

“The Appropriation Act is law, and the Federal Government cannot choose which laws to obey,” the lawmakers said.

Group Seeks Probe Of Alleged Off-Budget Spending

The lawmakers further called for scrutiny of allegations of unrecorded public expenditure.

They said claims of misappropriation must be established through investigation and due process but argued that available reports justified legislative scrutiny and a forensic audit.

The group cited a reported International Monetary Fund assessment in July 2026 that public expenditure equivalent to about two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product had not been reflected in recent official budgets.

The lawmakers put the estimated amount at about ₦8.83tn.

They said the alleged spending could not be dismissed through general denials from the Federal Ministry of Finance.

“Public funds cannot lawfully be spent outside duly enacted Appropriation Acts, concealed under opaque accounting classifications or omitted from fiscal information presented to the National Assembly and the Nigerian people,” they said.

“This administration cannot demand sacrifice from Nigerians while public expenditure remains opaque. Every naira spent by the government belongs to the Nigerian people.”

They called for an independent forensic audit of all reported off-budget expenditure.

Security Funding Questioned

On insecurity, the lawmakers said the government’s primary responsibility remained the protection of lives and property, but Nigerians were still being killed, kidnapped and displaced by terrorists, bandits and other violent groups.

They expressed concern over reports that some security agencies had yet to receive capital releases despite worsening insecurity.

The lawmakers cited reported figures showing that about ₦20.27bn, representing almost the full allocation for the Presidential Air Fleet, had been released while only a small fraction of the Nigerian Army’s capital allocation for security equipment was made available.

“The question is not whether the Presidential Air Fleet should be maintained,” they said.

“The question is why the comfort and mobility of public officials should receive more predictable funding than the equipment, logistics, operational vehicles, aircraft maintenance and protective resources required by personnel confronting terrorists and bandits.”

They consequently called for the immediate release of duly appropriated capital funds to the Armed Forces, Nigeria Police Force, intelligence agencies and other security institutions.

Bishops, Shari’ah Council Commended

The lawmakers also commended the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria for speaking on insecurity, economic hardship, democratic decline and concerns about possible one-party dominance.

They said the bishops had demonstrated that patriotism sometimes required confronting those in power with difficult truths.

The group similarly praised the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria for urging caution, broader consultation and national consensus on the proposed establishment of state police.

The lawmakers said the current national situation made it inappropriate for the legislature to remain away from plenary while major constitutional, economic and security issues remained unresolved.

“We call upon the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to reconvene both Chambers immediately for an emergency session,” they said.

According to them, the session should address “chronic under-implementation of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 budgets; the constitutional controversy surrounding the State Police Constitutional Alteration Bill; allegations of off-budget expenditure; non-release of capital funds to security agencies; the deteriorating security situation; and measures required to restore public confidence in the rule of law and democratic governance.”

The lawmakers maintained that the National Assembly was not merely an institution for approving executive bills and presidential requests.

They said the legislature had a constitutional responsibility to represent Nigerians, defend the Constitution, appropriate public funds, conduct oversight and hold the executive accountable.

The group said it supported necessary reforms and legitimate public expenditure but would oppose “unconstitutional procedures, legislative shortcuts, unimplemented budgets, opaque expenditure and the continuing failure to protect the Nigerian people.”