FG Aims for Timely 2026 Budget, Announces Crackdown on ‘Ghost Workers’ and Payroll Fraud

The Federal Government has declared its intention to break the cycle of delayed budgets by submitting the 2026 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly by September 2025.

This new timeline was announced in a directive from the Budget Office of the Federation, which has instructed all government ministries and agencies to immediately begin preparing their 2026 personnel budget proposals.

The move is designed to ensure the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework is finalized by July, as required by law, to facilitate the early budget presentation.

Alongside the push for timeliness, the government is implementing stricter measures to eliminate widespread abuse in personnel budgets.

The Budget Office issued a strong warning against inflating payrolls with ghost workers, unapproved promotions, or contract staff.

Key new rules include a ban on including consultants or outsourced staff in payrolls, a crackdown on staff appearing on multiple payrolls, and a requirement that only already-approved promotions are reflected.

Any inclusion of ineligible personnel will be treated as a “willful fraudulent action.”

To enforce discipline, the government will deploy a centralised monitoring dashboard linked to the national payroll system (IPPIS) for real-time tracking of personnel costs.

A new committee will also meet monthly to resolve payroll discrepancies.

All agencies must submit their personnel budget proposals by July 15, 2025, with strict adherence to deadlines emphasized as critical for the budget’s timely passage.

This urgency comes amid concerns that the current 2025 budget’s implementation is already stalled due to procurement delays and a shutdown of the government’s cash-planning portal, raising fears that its execution could spill over into 2026.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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